CORFE Castle will be lit up in purple after a Purbeck resident asked the National Trust to take part in a month of awareness-raising.

The Norman castle is one of hundreds of UK landmarks to be illuminated for the last weekend of November in support of Purple Lights for Pancreatic Cancer.

Lynn Nelson lost her pilot husband Stephen to the disease when he was 58-years-old.

Since then, Lynn, 57, has campaigned to support efforts to tackle what she calls the ‘forgotten cancer’.

She said: “Purple Lights UK asked people to help light up an iconic landmark in their area and I thought, well, what would be better than Corfe Castle?”

National Trust operations manager for Corfe Castle Andrew Eustace added: “We are delighted to be raising awareness of this dreadful disease by taking part in the Purple Lights for Pancreatic Cancer campaign. We hope that by lighting up Corfe Castle in purple, we will help put a spotlight on a disease that many people still know so very little about.”

The castle will be lit up on the evenings of Friday, November 25, to Sunday, November 27 from 5pm.

Businesses in Bournemouth and Poole have also been lit up in purple to raise awareness.

Grandma-of-11 Betty Quill, 80, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October last year but lost her battle just six weeks later on November 24.

Her son Steve and his wife Sue, from Hamworthy, organised for Dorset Police, Custom House and Da Vinci’s restaurant on Poole Quay, Lake Yard Boat Yard, Francesco’s Hair Academy in Poole and Isabel’s restaurant in Ashley Cross to take part in the event on Thursday.