A daytime television star has backed a newspaper campaign to save a hospice from closure by releasing a special Christmas song.

The Lancaster Guardian and Morecambe Visitor launched a £500,000 appeal to raise funds for St John’s Hospice, which faces a funding shortfall.

Now TV antiques expert Paul Hayes, pictured below, has got on board with a charity song to help boost the campaign funds.

The Morecambe-born star sings with rock ‘n’ roll band The Paul Hayes Collection in his spare time and the group has released the song Credit Card Christmas to support the hospice appeal.

Paul said: “The song intends to warn of the dangers of overspending at this time of year.

“I lost my father to lung cancer several years ago and as a tribute to him, we are donating all the proceeds of the sale of the song to #SaveOurHospice.”

Greg Lambert, chief reporter at The Visitor, said: “It has been a real boost for the campaign to have somebody of Paul’s profile on board. The song is catchy, people really seem to like it, and hopefully it will raise lots of money for the hospice.

“The appeal has also attracted support from many other well-known people, everyone from our local MP David Morris to Gail Stuart, daughter of Eric Morecambe. Scott Robinson from the boy band 5ive also gave us a quote backing the campaign. This all helps with raising the profile of what we’re trying to do.

“We’re very encouraged by the start we’ve made but there is a long way to go to hit our target.”

The song, written by the antiques expert and produced by band member Steve ‘Golly’ Goulding, is an upbeat 50s-style rock ‘n’ roll dance song in a classic festive tradition.

Within two days of announcing the release of the charity song, more than 200 copies had been snapped up at £3 each.

The Visitor also held a campaign roadshow at Morecambe’s Arndale Centre where Hayes signed copies for fans.

The campaign aims to help the Lancaster hospice deal with a funding shortfall of £500,000, while also encouraging local businesses to host clothes donation stations and urging local people to leave the hospice a legacy in their wills.