GENEROUS Colchester people have helped an annual charity book fair beat the recession and raise a record amount.

The NSPCC book fair offered more than 30,000 books for sale, at Holmwood House School, on Chitts Hill, Lexden.

Torrential rain during the day may have helped drive hundreds of customers inside to make the event a success.

It raised a total of £22,112, well ahead of last year’s figure of £20,000.

The event itself costs about £6,000 to stage, including storage of the books, but much of this is recouped by selling the books at other events throughout the year.

Almost 15,000 books left over from the Colchester sale will go on to another sale, to be run by Maldon Rotary Club later in the year. Teresa Morris, secretary of the organising committee, said: “We didn’t expect to raise such a fantastic amount.

“It’s been a great success. We feared with the recession, we might not do as well as last year, but it hasn’t stopped people buying books at all.

We’re thrilled.”