Three six-year-old girls from Christchurch Infant School held a cake sale in a classroom and raised £341 for animals affected by the Australian bushfires.

Having found out about the number of animals displaced, injured and killed in bushfires across the country, Tabitha, Elena and Evie felt compelled to something to help.

Ian Charman, Tabitha’s father, said: “My brother lives Sydney and spoke to us about the bushfires and the animals that have been affected.

“My daughter was listening to the call and was became very worried about them.

“All three of them began talking to one another about what they could do to help and one of them said should we ask Mr Baxter if we could do something.”

They approached their Headmaster with their idea and, touched by the girls’ empathy, the school went about putting it in motion.

Headmaster Duncan Baxter said: “At Christchurch Infant School, three Year Two children Tabitha, Elena and Evie showed great independence and thought, coming to me with a very charitable idea.

“They were concerned about the harmful effects the Australian bushfires have had on animals and wanted to host a cake sale fundraiser to support a charity that could make a difference.

A dozen tables were filled with hundreds of cakes, cupcakes and muffins made by the parents of students and pupils themselves.

The wet weather didn’t dampen spirits or put people off queuing outside the classroom to get their hands on some sweet treats, with all the cakes cleared within half an hour.

Becky Charman, who was on hand to help her daughter Tabitha and her friends at the cake sale, said: “We put the message out on the class WhatsApp groups asking people to donate cakes to the stall and for parents to come along on Friday afternoon.

“We have had plenty of donations and the girls are so excited.”

Ian added: “We're so proud of all the girls. Becky said the turnout was fantastic with staff and parents were very generous with their money considering most items were about 50p.”

At least 33 people have been killed - including four firefighters - and more than 11 million hectares of bush, forest and parks across Australia has burned.

An estimated 1.25 billion animals have been killed across Australia to date, including thousands of koalas and other iconic species such as kangaroos and wallabies, kookaburras.

The £341, or over $650 AUD, raised will be split between two charities, The Malacoota Wildlife Fire Relief Fund, based in Victoria, and the Port Macquarie Koala in New South Wales.

To donate to the two charities, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/saving-australian-koalas and https://www.gofundme.com/f/mallacoota-wildlife-shelter-fire-relief-fund.