LINGERIE shop staff in York were happy to "bear" all for Yorkshire-based children's charity Candlelighters.

Staff at La Senza, in Coney Street, chose the charity, which supports children with cancer and promotes research, for their annual Bertie Bear giveaway.

Bertie Bear was launched in Canada, where La Senza operates more than 200 stores, and has become a collectors' item.

Smaller versions of Bertie are sold in shops, but the larger version is not available to buy. Instead each store is given one each year to donate to a charity of their choice.

This month Lingerie consultants Kirsty Thornton and Eve Deighton handed a Bertie Bear to Candlelighters secretary Sally Amos.

Kirsty said: "We chose the charity because it is local and because it helps children, we were all really happy to do that.

"The teddy bear is quite large, it's worth about £100, so the charity could raffle it off or they could give it to the children, it's up to them."

Updated: 11:52 Saturday, December 21, 2002