COWS, sheep and cats were on the loose in a North-East town this weekend – but there was no cause for alarm.

More than 70 youngsters and their parents donned on their onesies and took to the streets of Darlington for a seven-mile charity walk to raise funds for a toddler fighting cancer.

The walk, organised by schoolfriends Natasha Geach, 13, and Lucy Wade, 14, is part of a fundraising campaign to raise more than £1,000 to send three-year-old Ruby Thompson, from Redcar, to America for vital cancer treatment.

Natasha, who is planning more fundraising events for Ruby, said she was really pleased with the turnout.

“I don’t know how much we have raised yet, but I think it’s more than £500 which is really good,” she said.

Her mother, Jennifer Geach, who also did the walk, added: “I am really proud of her. I can’t believe she took to organising it so well.”

The seven-mile circular walk started at the Shuttle and Loom pub on Whinfield Road and travelled along Haughton Road, through the town centre, up North Road and back across to the pub.