Forces Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn has put an evening dress up for auction to raise funds for a school.

Dame Vera, 84, who lives in Ditchling, hopes to raise money for the Dame Vera Lynn School for Parents at Ingfield Manor, near Billingshurst, by auctioning her dress and a painting by her on the internet.

She has spearheaded a campaign to save the school since it was earmarked for closure by Scope in March due to lack of funds.

The school offers a vital service to children in pre-school years with cerebral palsy and their parents.

The evening dress was designed for Dame Vera to wear on her long-running BBC programme in the Seventies, called Vera Lynn Sings. She wore it just once and promises to meet whoever buys it.

Money raised by the dress and painting will reach the school via registered charity Stars Organisation Supporting Cerebral Palsy (SOS), of which she was a founder member 45 years ago.

She said: "I hope my items will raise a good deal for the school."

The auction features other celebrity items and takes place on October 31 but bids can be made before then by logging on to www.chivas.com