Gran Jane Herbert proved you're never too old to get saucy when she donned a bikini for a public dip - in baked beans, writes NICK EVANS.

And while she turned blue, Jane's hair changed to a baked bean orange colour to mark her fundraising bath.

Despite a definite dislike for the tinned vegetable, Jane, 51, agreed to splash out to raise cash for a playgroup.

Children watched bemused as the mum-of-eight and grandma-of-nine was showered with tins of baked beans.

Jane, of Fettiplace Road, Barton, Oxford, braved the elements outside the shops at Underhill Circus, Barton, to raise money for the Sunny Smiles Playgroup.

And by the end of her four-hour marathon soak she not only had beans coming out of her ears, but her hair had also become the colour of baked beans. She said: "The leader of the playgroup said she would sponsor me £10 if I let her dye my hair while I was in the bath, but I didn't realise it would be permanent.

"People have said it looks quite good now, but I'm not sure.

"My hair was silver-grey before, now it's bright orange," added Jane. "It's really the colour of beans now."

The playgroup, based at the Neighbourhood Centre, Barton, desperately needs new play equipment and staged the sponsored soak to raise money.

Jane, a member of the playgroup's committee, was more than happy to dip in for such a good cause.

She said: "We were absolutely broke and we needed to get money quickly, so we decided to do something a bit different. "The whole community got involved. The local housing office supplied the bath and the beans were donated by local super- markets.

"All the children from the playgroup came down, but they weren't too sure what was going on.

"One little girl said to her mother 'I don't have beans in my bath, do I mummy? I have water'."

She added: "I don't even like baked beans but I am known to try anything once, so I volunteered.

"Although the bath started off filled with just baked beans, people added some yoghurts, a dozen eggs, a box of cornflakes and some curry powder.

"By the end I smelled quite sweet."

Jane hopes to have raised more than £500, which will be spent on art equipment for the children.

And although the bath proved a great success, Jane has no plans for a repeat performance.

She said: "It went very well, but I certainly won't be doing it again - at least not in October."

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