CHAMPION fundraiser Mary Edgerton admits she has lost count of the number of books she has sold from her barn.That is not surprising because year after year visitors to Orford, near Woodbridge, drift in and out of her secondhand bookshop at the back of her home near the Quay and pick a selection for holiday reading.

CHAMPION fundraiser Mary Edgerton admits she has lost count of the number of books she has sold from her barn.

That is not surprising because year after year visitors to Orford, near Woodbridge, drift in and out of her secondhand bookshop at the back of her home near the Quay and pick a selection for holiday reading.

She has sold books for about 20 years and raised an enormous amount of money for the Save the Children charity.

Mrs Edgerton estimates that she raises about £3,500 annually although the year ending in March is expected to be a bumper one with £4,000 coming in.

She will be 91 years old in March - but age is no barrier to her fundraising efforts and she will carry on as normal.

Mrs Edgerton, who ran district nursing services in Harringay, London, before she retired, was honoured for her achievements at the Save the Children awards in London.

She met the Princess Royal, president of the charity, and received a plaque to mark her outstanding work.

She was accompanied by a granddaughter, Tansy Edgerton, who helps out in the shop on her visits to Orford.

Mrs Edgerton moved to Orford with her late husband, Ronald Edgerton. She said: ''When we first came here we used to open the garden to raise money for Save the Children on Bank Holidays. I was left with books that accumulated and accumulated and it occurred to me it would be a good idea to get rid of them.''

The barn was turned into a bookshop and Mrs Edgerton added: ''I could not do this if people did not give me books. I have never had to look for books, they have just flowed in.''