MARKET traders came together to surprise a pensioner and his wife with a new mobility scooter.

Terry and Sylvia Bootes, 78 and 75, are known to traders at the Bolton Market as the couple who give out chocolates.

When Nigel Lyons from Coffee Grind found out that Sylvia was struggling to push her husband, who has Parkinson’s disease, in a wheelchair, he asked his fellow traders to help out the regular customers.

Nigel said: “I thought surely there’s something we can do.”

Over 25 traders put their money together in the space of an hour to raise £500 and this was matched by UKS Mobility who provided the scooter.

Dave Bliss from UKS Mobility’s Bolton Market store said that his boss was "more than happy" to finish off the donation when he was told about the fundraising.

Dave, who has worked at Bolton Market for three years, said: “It’s like a big family in here.”

Last week, the couple were told that they would be getting a secondhand scooter using the money raised by the traders who put their hands in their pockets.

Dave said that the "sweet" couple couldn’t believe it and Sylvia started crying when she found out.

On Tuesday, Dave and Nigel surprised the couple with a new scooter worth over £1,000 which Terry had his eye on.

Their daughter Tina, 57, was at the market to receive the gift with her parents who will now be able to get on a train to visit their daughter in Edinburgh and son in Swansea.

She said: “It means everything to them. No one has ever done anything like this for them before.”

In his younger days Terry was a soldier and also worked down the pits, Tina said.

She added: “Even as a child, I just remember them both working. They never had much but always made sure we were okay.”

Aside from Parkinson’s disease, Terry suffers from pneumoconiosis, a lung disease common in coal miners.

When the scooter was presented to him, Terry said: “It’s brilliant. It means I can go around on my own.”