SHE has often been pilloried in the Press as a battleaxe, but at the weekend it was Christine Hamilton's turn to throw wet sponges at people in the stocks.

Christine and her husband, the controversial former Tory MP Neil Hamilton, were back in her home town of Ringwood to help give a celebrity soaking to some of the people the public loves to hate, including lawyers, estate agents, politicians and parking wardens.

With the BBC Children in Need appeal looming, Pudsey bear was on hand to rattle his collecting bucket during the Furlong Centre's fun fundraising effort.

Estate agents were given a dose of rising damp, solicitors had their suits soused and even New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne proved he was a good sport by taking to the platform in the Furlong Centre to take his 'punishment' in the stocks.

For every three sponges thrown there was a £1 levy for Children in Need, and the organisers' initial assessment was that more than £1,000 had been squeezed out for the cause.