Fitness fans flexed their financial muscles to raise nearly �200 for research into a rare condition that can cause deformities in children.

Zumba classes were held throughout the day during a zumbathon on Saturday at The Moors Community Centre in Eye to raise money for two charities: Lisa's Stars, which provides very small knitted clothing for premature babies and the Rosie unit at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge.

Emily Bower, who owns Dance Academy UK and organised the classes, chose the charities because her stillborn son Francis suffered from Patau Syndrome, in which a patient has an extra chromosome 13, which can cause a range of complications including derformities such as extra fingers and toes and club feet and hands.

In total, 15 people attended each of the zumba sessions during the course of the day, which is a dance and exercise routine started in Colombia during the 1990s. They paid �5 for the lesson and gave a donation to the charity appeal.

Mrs Bower, whose husband John is the director of Bounceback Physio, said the Lisa's Stars charity provided knitted clothing for very small premature babies born at Addenbrookes.

The Rosie unit provides women's and maternity services at the hospital.