The participants from across Mid Sussex dressed in nighties, pyjamas and dressing gowns for the first ever sponsored sleepwalk for St Peter and St James hospice in Wivelsfield.

As most residents slept in their beds, courageous women were walking the 10km route, raising more than 25,000 for the charity which cares for people with life limiting illnesses.

The walk took on added significance for those who had experienced the care and support provided by the hospice. Sacha Thompson, who lost her father to cancer, was joined by her mum and sister on the walk. She had raised more than £677 for the charity.

She said: "I lost my Dad last Saturday and the hospice have been amazing and fulfilled his wish of being at home with us. So I am really pleased to be raising money for them.

"It has been a really overwhelming week for my family and people have come forward to say they have received great treatment from the hospice. They really are a truly amazing place."

Participants began to gather at Victoria Park in Haywards Heath from 10pm to meet fellow walkers and register for the event. They were then encouraged to limber up to an exercise routine held by women's only fitness club and health centre Curves.

Margaret Baker, the mayor of Haywards Heath officially opened the race at midnight and the hundreds of women made their way through the dark streets of Haywards Heath.

The route took the walkers on a circle of Haywards Heath and Lindfield and took more than an hour and a half to complete, with the last women crossing the line at 2.30am.

Everyone who took part was rewarded with a free baseball cap, finisher's memento and most importantly a well deserved bacon roll, courtesy of the Burgess Hill and Haywards District Round Table.

Fundraiser for the hospice, Karen Lambert thanked everyone who took part in the sleepwalk. She said: "The atmosphere was brilliant. Lots of people dressed up and it was wonderful. Local businesses gave us a huge amount of support and we had 70 or 80 other people helping out at the event. We would like to thank everyone involved."

Click on the green 'play' logo to view our video report of Saturday's sleepwalk. For pictures from the event see Thursday's Mid Sussex Times.