THE landlady of a pub in Shorne is organising a fundraising evening in aid of motor neurone disease.

Wendy Ireland, landlady of the See Ho, in Pear Tree Lane, is a friend of Meryl Leaney, of Bowesden Lane, who suffers from motor neurone disease and can no longer talk or eat. Now Wendy is organising a fundraising event on November 24 in her pub to raise cash for research into the wasting disease.

There will be entertainment and prizes, including a bathroom suite worth more than £1,000 donated by Pats Plumbing, in Plumstead.

Mrs Ireland said: My friend Meryl Leaney contracted this illness three-and-a-half years ago and motor neurone disease life expectancy is generally only two to five years.

Neighbours may know Meryl through collecting for the Scope in the past. She can now only walk a few steps, she can no longer talk or eat and has to be fed through a tube in her stomach, which takes six hours a day.

For more information about the event, which starts at 8pm, call Wendy on 01474 822386.

To learn more about the rare disease, help or donate money, call Joyce Onslow on 01634 846330 or Rod Leaney on 01474 822885.