CARING staff at a Worcester opticians are celebrating after trebling the fund-raising target to help their hospital-bound boss come home.

And there wasn't a dry eye in the house when they announced the final figure at a special disco night at Copper Tops.

Staff at Rayner Opticians, in the Shambles, had rallied to the cause to raise nearly £9,000 - three times their original £3,000 target.

They decided to raise the cash to help ease the transition when their former boss Simon Tansell moves into his new home. He has spent two-and-a-half years in hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage at the age of 36.

Mr Tansell's wife Trisha and son Andrew, five, have now moved house to accommodate his care at home with lift and wheelchair access.

He was heavily involved with St Matthew's Church, Ronkswood and was an active member of Worcester Athletics Club and the Worcester crib league.

The Rayner staff are thrilled that their efforts will help to buy more specialist equipment than they originally hoped.

They planned to spend six months doing a variety of fund-raising tasks, and staff at many of the other 130 Rayner branches across the country did their bit by holding sponsored slims and having swear boxes.

Optical assistant Jane Hunt said that Simon was such a caring, popular man himself that people's response made the challenge a heart-warming experience.

"This has been a really uplifting experience that would restore anybody's faith in human nature," she said.

"Simon is such a kind man and people have remembered that. This result just goes to show how many peoples lives he touched. It has been a real community effort.

"St Matthews church held as bring and buy, and we had the raffle in the shop. But a lot of the donations have been from little old ladies coming in - a lot of people have done their bit.

"We raised around £2,000 when we did the sponsored walk on the Malverns in August," she added.

"Now that the six months is over we feel a little deflated, but we're pleased that we have been able to help, and we will be keeping the account open for any further donations."