WHEN Mandy Lugg's mum failed to spot a tumour on her breast, the owner of The Flower Shop in Stonehouse decided to raise awareness about cancer in a way that could not fail to be noticed.

So Mandy, 33, recruited eight of her florists and two of her delivery drivers to take their clothes off for a nearly nude calendar - called The Darling Buds - to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Campaign.

"Some of them needed a bit of persuasion but the boys were really up for it," said Mandy, whose calendar hosts a photo of a different member of staff for each month of the year, taken by Quedgeley-based photographer Sue Brewster free of charge.

Mandy's mum Jackie Badham, 56, was told she had breast cancer following a routine mammogram screening at Cheltenham General Hospital - an appointment she nearly missed.

If it had not been for the X-ray, Jackie, from Quedgeley, would not have noticed the tumour, the size of a pea, which was hidden behind her nipple.

"I was fit and healthy - I never thought I would get cancer," she said.

Jackie, then 51, went on to have a lumpectomy - an operation to remove the tumour - at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, followed by a five-year course of tamoxifen to prevent the cancer returning.

This year Jackie was given the all clear and now she is keen to stress that women should check for tumours regularly.

"If you spot a tumour early, it can be treated," said Jackie, who is posing for the month of February with a bunch of red roses.

The calendar is on sale at a suggested donation price of £6 in The Flower Shop in Barnard Parade, Stonehouse; Strandz hairdressers in John Street, Stroud; and at MGM Motor Components in the Fromeside Industrial Estate.

To order a copy, call The Flower Shop on 01453 824 426.