A NORTH Yorkshire woman tackled the London Marathon dressed as a fairy to raise money for a deaf children's charity.

Serena John, from near Harrogate, conquered the London Marathon dressed up as a purple fairy in support of the National Deaf Children’s Society on Sunday October 2.

Serena finished the marathon in a time of six hours, eight minutes - and she has raised £2,500 to date for the charity, which supports 50,000 deaf children and their families.

Serena, 44, said: "I did this for my amazing, brave, clever, funny, five-year-old niece, Esme. I was dressed up as purple fairy because Esme loves fairies.

"Esme and her mummy and daddy have had so much help from the National Deaf Children’s Society that I wanted to try and raise as a much money as possible, as a thank you."

Serena lives in Burton Leonard near Harrogate with husband Mark and their son, Arlo, 7.