IT was every fashion fan’s dream – designer labels at rock-bottom prices.

About 1,000 bargain hunters flooded into Oxford Town Hall, in St Aldate’s, for a charity clothes sale, and raised more than £18,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support in Oxfordshire.

Organiser PJ Seccombe, 59, from Kiddington, said the event on Saturday had been a resounding success.

She said: “We were astonished with how well it went.

“There was a constant stream of people coming in throughout the day.

“We were lucky to have the town crier on hand to tell shoppers in the city centre about what was on offer.

“You realise just how many people there were in the hall, because most of the garments cost only about £3 or £4 each, but we made £17,432, with roughly another £500 to come.

“All 17 volunteers worked around the clock to make sure the sale was properly organised, and we’re all delighted with the amount of money raised.”

From Armani to Zara, Pringle to Yves St Laurent, more than 1,000 donated items were on sale, including hats, scarves, belts and handbags, as well as dresses.

More than 300 items alone were donated by the estate of Jean Young, from Winslow, near Milton Keynes, who died of cancer aged 82. She had been cared for by a Macmillan nurse.

Her collection included clothes from every decade from the 1950s.

Every penny raised went to Macmillan Cancer Support, which provides practical, medical and financial help to cancer sufferers.

Mrs Seccombe, who has been raising money for Macmillan since 1997, said they chose the charity because it did “wonderful work for so many people”.

She said: “Nearly everyone I know has been touched by cancer in one way or another, and one in three people will get it in their lifetime.

“The Macmillan nurses and cancer support do so much wonderful work for so many people, and we wanted to do what we can.

“I have always said fundraising should be fun, and it’s amazing what a joint effort can result in.”

The charity supports 38 health and social care professionals in the county.

It is raising money to take on a new skin cancer nurse specialist and a joint Macmillan and Citizens Advice Bureau benefits adviser at the Churchill Hospital, in Headington.

A number of outfits left after the sale will now be sold on the eBay website, with the proceeds also going to MacMillan.