CUSTOMERS visiting an inflatable pub helped to raise £500 for a cancer charity supporting people with an incurable illness.

Dorset Mobile Bar set up The Final Furlong at Christchurch Food and Drink Festival in conjunction with any Appetite for Adventure in memory of Simon Furlong, who died following a short battle with cancer aged 43 in December.

Hundreds of people visited the seven-metre-tall fun attraction, which was pitched up to sell a selection of local ales from Vibrant Forest Brewery and Dorset Dry Gin with the £500 funds raised from sales going to Macmillan Caring Locally.

Adie Callaghan, co-owner of Dorset Mobile Bar, said: "We wanted to do something during the festival to say thank you for the support Simon received from the tremendous team at Macmillan Caring locally, based in Christchurch.

"They were just fantastic with Si and his family during what was a terrible time. We are very pleased to have donated over £500 of the profits taken from the pub during the food festival to Macmillan Caring Locally.

"We would like to thank everyone who came down to get a drink and help us raise this special donation in memory of a very special man."

Neal Williams, Trust Secretary of Macmillan Caring Locally, said: “On behalf of everyone at Macmillan Caring Locally, I would like to thank Adie and all the Dorset Mobile Bar team for their extremely generous donation.

"The inflatable pub is a brilliant idea and it’s fantastic to see that it will help to carry on Si’s great legacy in the local area."

The Macmillan Unit is situated at Christchurch Hospital and is part of the Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The unit offers specialist palliative care to patients with any advanced, progressive, incurable illness with difficult symptoms or problems. Operating from the Macmillan Unit, Macmillan Caring Locally provides funding to enhance care and to provide an attractive, homely environment for patients, their families and visitors.

For more information, go to Macmillanlocal.org