RED Nose Day was celebrated in style at Dartmouth Primary School with teachers acting the fool and pupils being fined for squeaking their red noses at inappropriate times!

The whole school gathered for assembly early in the morning, with teachers and pupils dressed as clowns and cavorting acrobats for the special day. This was followed by a 'slave auction' of children in class nine, with some of them being sold for as much as £4. The auction raised £20 towards the total of £230 made on the day.

Photographs of the different classes were taken and copies are to be sold to raise further funds.

In the afternoon the children put on a Red Nose Talent Show with a range of acts which included plate spinning and juggling.

The final part of the day saw the entire teaching staff perform their own interpretation of the Comic Relief theme song, When the Going Gets Tough, by their group Girlzone. The pupils were amazed and astounded by their spectacular dance routines and costumes.

Head teacher, Nigel Stroud, said: 'The day's activities at the school raised a lot of money for Comic Relief and heightened the children's awareness of world problems and poverty.'

Members of Dartmouth Amateur Rowing Club raised £500 for Comic Relief while trying to beat the 100,000 metre rowing record.

The Red Nose Day rowing challenge was taken up by the club as part of a national fund- raising event.

The Dartmouth team equipped themselves well and their time of 5 hours and 43 minutes put them among the fastest rowers taking part.

The 10-strong team rowed the distance, relay-style, in the Bandstand in Royal Avenue Gardens, using a New Concept II rowing machine, provided courtesy of Brian and Singrid Rowe.

They each rowed in 500m stints during the marathon effort.