The parents of Holly Clarke are in a race against time to raise enough money to adapt their home as their little girl enters the final stages of crippling Batten's disease.

Holly has now reached the severest stage of the terminal illness which has already robbed her of most of her sight and ability to walk and talk.

The six-year-old's parents, Darren and Shirelle, are desperate to put in place the facilities they need to care properly for their daughter at home.

They have secured a £25,000 grant to extend their home but have to find £25,000 themselves for the building work and specialist equipment. A bath and hoist alone could cost £15,000.

Darren and Shirelle, who also have an 11-year-old son, Daniel, faced a scare last week when Holly contracted a serious chest infection.

"Holly could live for the next six years or the next six weeks," said Darren. "We just don't know. Last week we were told we were losing her because she had a chest infection.

"I saw her smile today for the first time in six weeks. She has started to come round now and is looking a lot brighter but we do not know when it will happen again."

Holly, who needs constant care, sleeps in her parents' room of their two-bedroom bungalow in Grove House, but the room needs to be adapted.

Their home has already been adapted to make most of it wheelchair-accessible and have secured the grant from Bradford Council.

Darren, 35, said: "Bradford Council has been fine but the processes they have to go through are time consuming. We need the hoist and to get the hoist we need the extension in place. We don't want to have palliative nurses. We want to look after Holly ourselves.

"There needs to be a decent sized turning space in the bedroom for wheelchair access and a bathroom big enough for a specialist bath."

A Bradford Council spokesman said: "Terminally-ill people are treated as a priority for assessment by the Council and our occupational therapists deal with their applications as quickly as possible.

"In some circumstances we are able to provide additional financial support and we are currently speaking to the family to see what we can do to help them.

"We have to follow Government guidelines and the maximum disabled facilities grant we can give the family is £25,000."

A new wave of fundraising is now underway and family friend Gareth Crossland, 25, of Holme Wood, has organised a charity night featuring Kylie Minogue tribute artist Joanne Steele and Robbie Williams impersonator Lee Pashley.

The artists will be appearing with dancers and a DJ at East Ward Labour Club, Otley Road, Bradford on March 2 at 7.30pm.

Gareth said: "It's going to be a massive night and one of the biggest events we have organised so far. I have seen Joanne perform and she is excellent.

"Holly means the world to Darren and Shirelle. Lately we have seen her and she is not as well as she used to be. We just have to get on with it. All we can do is raise as much money as we can to make her life easier.".

For tickets to the charity night, costing £7.50 for adults and £4.50 for pensioners, (children do not pay), contact Darren Clarke on 07958 063276 or Gareth Crossland on 07761 903339.