SAUCY WI stalwarts raised more than a titter when they stripped to their bare essentials for a village hall poetry reading.

Villagers were left pant-ing for more when Colwall Women's Institute members peeled off in front of a roaring crowd and read their work in just their undies.

Their fund-raising efforts led to a chorus of wolf whistles and cheers from the packed hall when the curtain opened to reveal the five corset-clad pensioners.

They hope their antics will help shake off their "stuffy" image and encourage younger women to join.

"We decided to perform a poem about a WI which is strapped for cash," explained Jenny Davidson, the WI member who wrote and read the piece.

"In the work, the group decide they can't appear in a nude calendar because a WI has done that before - it's then they take to the stage in just their underwear."

Mrs Davidson read the poem before pulling the curtain back to reveal the group in a selection of corsets, bloomers and well-padded bras.

"We scoured the charity shops in the village to choose our underwear and I don't think the charity workers knew what had hit them," said fellow performer Mary Taylour.

"We picked a range of outfits as raunchy as we could find. The audience had a good laugh, which was rather gratifying."

The women - Mrs Davidson, Bettie Hedges, Marion Percy, Shirley Carroll and Mary Taylour, all from Colwall, near Malvern - practised their routine in front of WI members to make sure the big day ran smoothly.

Twelve WI members were originally meant to take part, each representing a different month.

But many husbands were not pleased with the prospect of their wives parading their assets in public. So the group, all aged over 60, were forced to change to represent the four seasons.

"In the end I think we had the right number of performers for our five minutes on stage," Mrs Davidson added.

"We were all quite excited and had a great laugh being exposed in the ghastly underwear."

The WI was one of a number of acts taking part in the bi-annual Colwall Crackers show to raise funds for the village hall. The event also included performances by the Colwall Players, Mothers' Union and parish council.