A TRUSTY old Ford Fiesta will soon embark on its toughest journey as a tribute to its late owner.

Susan Cropper, from Walken, died aged 69 in March having been diagnosed with lung and liver cancer seven weeks earlier.

And in her final weeks Mrs Cropper was cared for by St Ann's Hospice in Little Hulton.

Now as a thank you for caring for her mum, daughter Claire Cropper, will be driving her mum's beloved car in a Fireball Rally.

The nine-day adventure will take Claire and her husband Olly through eight European countries and they are hoping to raise £2,000 for the hospice.

Mrs Cropper's 11-year-old Fiesta had only travelled 19,500 miles, but when the couple return they will have put another 2,500 miles on the clock.

The pair will leave Calais on August 28, en route to Valencia before finishing in Amsterdam.

They will also take in Andorra and Switzerland and even take the little black car on a spin around the famousNurburgring race track.

Claire, a speech and language therapist whose father Ian also died in the Little Hulton hospice in 2008, said: "The car was their pride and joy so we thought it'd be a nice idea to use it to raise money.

"Mum had a positive experience when my dad was a patient at the hospice and it was her request to die there.

"She felt safe and secure in St Ann's and had a fear of hospitals.

"Mum enjoyed walking and loved her family. She was a bingo caller in Walkden for 20 years and also worked in a post office so was very much part of the community."

Olly, a private physio, added: "Susan would never drive on motorways and would have found it amusing that her car would be driven round Europe. For us taking the car means she's coming with us on the journey."

To donate visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/clairecropper07

For more information on the hospice visit www.sah.org.uk