A BED of burning hot coals greeted daredevils who took on a night-time firewalk in aid of St Luke's Hospice.

Forty people undertook two hours of psychological training to prepare them for the mind-over-matter test of will at Claremont High School, in Claremont Avenue, Kenton.

Then, with bare feet, they strode confidently across a path of scorching embers, helped by the encouragement from bystanders.

Mita Vaghji, community fundraiser at the charity, said: "The coals had been sitting for just half an hour. They set them on fire and raked them out.

"We had two hours of training to get ready and we each walked across the hot coals once - about five or six paces.

"I was nervous before I did it but I wasn't burned and it didn't hurt at all. It felt great afterwards."

The hospice, in Kenton Grange, Kenton, which provides palliative care for residents of Harrow and Brent, should benefit by about £4,000 since each walker had to generate £40 in sponsorship.