STERLING charity work by the Reading branch of the Bank of Ireland has raised nearly

£8,000 for one of the town's

hospices.

The Duchess of Kent Hospice is now £7,960.88 better off thanks to the bank's St Patrick's Day Business Challenge.

The Greyfriars Road branch raised the cash by holding

a fundraising night at Scruffy Murphy's pub for customers.

Reading's effort was just a small part of the £162,000 the bank raised in its Help the Hospices campaign nationally.

A delighted Peter Morris, head of the bank in Britain said: "The challenge has exceeded all our expectations. We have raised a tremendous amount for hospices around the country and made many new friends as a result of the work that went into making our St Patrick's Day celebrations so special this year."