TWO sisters who have recently battled breast cancer, are deliberately losing their locks so that other cancer patients might not have to.

Maria Elliott, aged 52, and Lisa McCandles, aged 48, are both shaving their heads in support of their 38 year old friend Sherine Hampshire, who has recently been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer.

Sherine has launched a £40,000 fund-raising campaign to help buy cold caps for hospital chemo wards. The caps may help to prevent hair loss by narrowing the blood vessels beneath the skin of the scalp to reduce the amount of chemotherapy medicine that reaches the hair follicles.

Maria and Lisa, who are from Rawdon, will holding a fundraising head shave party in Jubilee Hall, Layton Lane, Rawdon, at 12.30pm on Sunday, August 4.

Maria, said: "We want everyone who has cancer treatment to have the choice of using one of these state of the art 'cooling caps' to help them keep their hair after chemo.

"I met Sherine in 2015 during my own treatment and unfortunately she is now battling chemotherapy again for secondary cancer in her spine, liver and lung. Whilst having chemotherapy, she noticed that some patients had to wait a long time or give up the chance to save their hair due to insufficient Paxman cold cap machines."