Brave daredevils held their nerve and faced their fears to walk over red hot coals to boost a cancer charity.

Cheering crowds gathered to watch 50 courageous fundraisers step across coals burning at more than 500 degrees fahrenheit.

The Big C, Norfolk and Waveney's cancer charity, threw down the gauntlet for people prepared to test their mettle and face the fire walk challenge.

And people whose lives have been touched by cancer and lost loved ones, plus people who simply recognised the fantastic work The Big C has done since it was founded in 1980, responded.

Their fire walk took place at The Forum on Norwich, with supporters cheering on the barefooted participants as they made their way across the coals.

One of the fundraisers even donned a full Spiderman costume for the occasion, but all looked extremely relieved to plunge their feet into buckets of cooling water after completing their challenge.

They were prepared for the walk by former naval commander Steve Stuttard, who held an hour-long session to psyche them up beforehand and help them overcome their fears.

That involved them breaking boards with their hands and, bizarrely, having wooden arrows broken on their throats - all to build up their confidence.

Michelle Leyshon, a student nurse at the University of East Anglia, was among those who braved the challenge on Saturday. She said: 'The Big C is a fantastic charity and it was just something that I wanted to do.

'It didn't hurt at all. We had a really good session before hand to get us in the right frame of mind and there's been so much camaraderie among a group of people who didn't know each other at all before today.'

Each participant made a £30 donation and pledged to raise at least £100 in sponsorship and Clive Evans, the Big C's director of income generation said the event, sponsored by Adrian Flux Insurance Services, was likely to raise about £10,000 for the charity's work.

He said of the fundraisers: 'I think they are all extremely brave. When I talked to them, many of them had personal stories which made them want to do it and are saying thanks to the Big C for the support which we have given.'

The event was part of the charity's 35th anniversary celebrations. Anybody who would rather raise money for the Big C in a rather cooler style should visit the website at www.big-c.co.uk or call Dan Bell on 01603 619900.

• Are you raising money for charity? Tell us about it by emailing locallife@archant.co.uk