Vernon Arms regular Brian Thurston lost not only his foot-long pony tail but all the rest of his head hair, plus beard and moustache, when he went under the shears during a night of fund-raising for the cause in the Southrepps pub on Friday.

And landlord Paul Briggs, who had vowed to have his chest waxed if fund-raising reached the �1,000 mark, found himself obliged to keep his promise.

Mr Briggs lay down, bit on a piece of wood and took it like a man as customers paid �5 a strip to part him from his chest hair, leaving him baby-soft, pink and tingling.

'It only lasted about 10 minutes but when I went to bed it felt as if someone had been stroking me with stinging nettles,' he said.

The pair's sacrifices helped the pub raise �1,929 boosted by a raffle and a 20p-a-time swearbox on the bar. 'Most people were chucking a �1 in and having a little rant!' said Mr Briggs.

Party-goers wearing 1940s fashions helped raise at least �3,500 for the charity at a dance and auction organised by David Slack and friends at his home in Swafield, near North Walsham.

About 250 people danced to the live music of the King Size Papas and auction items included show tickets, accommodation and a weekend in a London flat, a cordon-bleu dinner party for eight and weekend at a north Norfolk bed and breakfast, a cob oven, acrobatic flight, nest of antique tables, MP3 player, camera and computer servicing, a painting, and swing and lindy-hop dance lessons.

'Everybody really chipped in with more than 50 prizes and it all went very well,' said Mr Slack.

Shoppers visiting Roys stores at Wroxham and North Walsham found themselves being served by famous film characters as staff dressed up for the day.

A total of �2,450 was raised in Wroxham with �549 raised in North Walsham. All Roys stores across Norfolk and Suffolk took part and raised a total of �8,225. Paul Roy, buying and marketing director said they were delighted to beat the last year's total of �7,600.

Among a host of other local events, a bingo evening in Gimingham Village Hall raised �137 and children across the district donated money so that they could wear their own clothes to school for the day.

At Gresham Village School children dressed in spotty clothes for the day and the school council gave a special Children in Need assembly. A spotty cake stall ended the day and helped the school raise �145 for the cause.

At Aylsham High School pupils paid to hurl icy or muddy sponges at staff members including head teacher Duncan Spalding.

And at Cromer's Boots store, customers were able to get their nails painted with Pudsey spots in return for a donation.

Along the coast, at The Lighthouse Inn in Walcott, staff hosted a 10 hour sponsored 'Rock Band' marathon using a games console. the event raised �300.

More than �18m had been raised for the annual BBC appeal at the end of Friday evening's national televised fund-raising extravaganza.

Pudsey supporters in north Norfolk helped the East of England add �1,363,679 to the still-growing total.