Gosport Borough Council has taken part in Jeans for Genes day for the past decade, during which time staff have raised just short of £3,500.

This year, keen horseman James Wild, who works in the council's IT department, offered to come to work on the day wearing jodhpurs, jacket, hat and whip, if enough pledges over and above the usual £2 donation were made.

The amount raised so far is £470, well past last year's amount, with more donations still to come in.

'In the early days, the donation was a £1 coin, but this was raised to £2 a couple of years ago,' said Brenda Brooker, organiser of the event.

'As with all things, money is tight and it gets harder to better the amount raised.

'However, this year a colleague raced to the rescue, offering his services in order that we might raise even more money for the charity.'

The money raised goes to charities which look into genetic illnesses in babies and young children, to find a cure to alleviate their suffering.