CHURCHES across Wiltshire have raised £80,000 to help save thousands of lives.

People in the Clifton Diocese, which covers Wiltshire, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Bristol, have donated the cash to the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development's (CAFOD) Sudan emergency appeal.

The money helped push the fundraising total over the £2m mark and will be used to ease suffering Darfur where thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes because of fierce fighting.

Tony Vassallo, of CAFOD, said: "This is a tremendous response. Such generosity and compassion from Catholics in the Clifton Diocese will help save lives and bring hope to those struggling to survive in terrible conditions."