MARK and Carol Ratcliffe are a remarkable couple.

Who could not fail to be moved by The Dying Rooms, a heart-rending programme about the Chinese baby girls who are abandoned by their parents and left to die?

But the majority of us would mutter about the cruelty and then promptly forget it.

Not the Ratcliffes. They saw the programme and decided to do something about it.

For the last four years this couple, who have two children of their own, have raised nearly £11,000 to rescue one of these unwanted waifs from a Chinese orphanage.

Mark and his father-in-law cycled from John O'Groats to Land's End to raise cash and the couple's children, nine-year-old Lili and Joe, 10, swam 5,000 metres of Dorcan pool to add £500 to the fund.

Not once in four years of struggling to reach their target did they give up. They never lost hope during the two-year adoption process.

And now it's all worth it. 11-month-old Zhi, who was found abandoned in a shop doorway, joined the Ratcliffe family a week ago.

She's guaranteed a happy, loving upbringing with a family who fought tooth and nail to save her.

We would like to congratulate the Ratcliffes on their determination.