Her Hot Legs were a little late, but Penny Lancaster joined 850 others as they made a stream of pink around one of Oxfordshire’s most beautiful country estates for a fundraising walk.

Rod Stewart’s wife was meant to have started the fifth Ribbon Walk in aid of Breast Cancer Care at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, but a traffic accident held her up.

‘Green Goddess’ Diana Moran, who led the warm-up, stepped into the breach to send the walkers on their way on Saturday.

Penny was an hour late by the time she strode out in memory of her friend Maria Falco, the woman who had encouraged her to go up to Rod and ask for his autograph.

She said: “This is raising money for a very important cause.

“Everyone is doing it together, it’s kind of a bonding thing. We all know someone close to us that has suffered.”

She said she had been to Blenheim Palace before when her husband performed there two years ago and added: “It is a fantastic place.”

Hayley Ferguson, 25, and Nicola Edwards, 23, from Didcot were walking the 10-mile route for Miss Ferguson’s grandmother, Shirley Ridley, who was diagnosed with cancer in December. They hope to have raised £500.

Miss Ferguson said: “She’s doing okay at the moment – it’s nice to be able to do it for her.”

Thirty-six-year-old Abi Vale, from Banbury, will mark the first anniversary of being diagnosed with breast cancer on Wednesday.

She said: “The support that I have had has been absolutely amazing, from having minor surgery, to chemo, and I am still on treatment now but I am doing really well. I am doing the walk for myself and two friends of mine who were diagnosed at about the same time.

“I think it is an absolutely fantastic event because it brings awareness and raises money for a really good cause.”

School nurse Janet Bonham, 44, from Steeple Aston, hopes to hand over about £300 for the cause.

She said: “I can’t begin to tell you how many people I know who have had breast cancer so we thought we would do our bit.

“This event is fab, it’s one of my favourite charities.”

The event was the first of four ribbon walks across the UK this month – organisers hope to raise about £300,000 for the cause.