A STREET party raised £2,500 for meningitis research in memory of a Newport boy who died of the disease.

Chris Pitt, 11, died of bacterial meningitis on Christmas Day 1997. An annual street party is held in his memory in the road where he lived, Nash Grove - and it has raised tens of thousands of pounds for meningitis research in the five years since his death.

This year's event, held on Sunday, was attended by Newport soldier Sergeant Neil Bowyer, who raised £6,000 for meningitis research in Chris' memory.

Sgt Bowyer, 34, who lives in Nash Grove, took part in a sponsored 500-mile run, row and bike ride with his colleagues in the Second Battalion Parachute Regiment to raise money for the Meningitis Trust.

Sgt Bowyer said he decided to raise money after hearing about Chris' story from his wife, Patricia, 34, who works as a nurse in the city's Royal Gwent Hospital with Chris' mother, Caroline Pitt.

Sgt Bowyer and ten other soldiers from the regiment ran, rowed and cycled 500 miles in the gym - the distance from their base in South Armagh, Northern Ireland, to Newport. They completed the exercise in 49 hours and 50 minutes.

Sgt Bowyer said: "When I moved in to Nash Grove they held regular street parties for Chris and I wanted to get involved. It was such a terrible tragedy for Chris' family, I thought I wanted to do something."

Sunday's street party raised an additional £2,500 and was attended by over 400 people, who partied until the early hours of Monday morning.

Caroline Pitt, 45, said: "What Neil and the other boys did was superb. It really was a brilliant effort, especially when you consider they did it during the Iraq conflict, when they faced being called up to fight at any moment. They raised a great amount of money, but also increased awareness of the illness."