A PUB regular has raised nearly £400 for Bolton Hospice by having his beard shaved off — nearly seven years after he first started to grow it.

Marcus Greene, aged 58, of The Old Vicarage in Bradshaw, Bolton last had his beard cut off after losing a bet that Barrack Obama would not be elected President of the United States in 2008 and decided that would be the last time.

But after his facial hair began to reach his waist Mr Greene rethought his plan and after a friend suggested he try to raise some money from the momentous occasion decided to was time to go clean shaved once again.

Surrounded by friends at the Greyhound pub he said goodbye to the epic beard, and managed to raise £390 for The Bolton Hospice.

He said: "It was a bit of a challenge to grow it and I thought it was a nice thing to do to raise some money. It had grown a good two feet so I thought maybe it was time to have a change then someone said people would probably sponsor me."