RADIO presenter Pete Price has opened a Christmas grotto for Claire House at a shopping centre in Birkenhead.

Pete, a patron of the hospice, officially opened the Grotto, situated on Princes Pavement next to Wimpy in the Grange Precinct, on Thursday afternoon.

Last year, the Grotto raised more than £7,500 for the Clatterbridge-based charity, which is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary with a host of fundraising activities.

It is open from Thursday to Sunday each week until Christmas then every day during Christmas week and will be staffed by hospice volunteers.

Following Thursday's opening, Wirral-based Pete, who will tread the boards as Muddles in Snow White And The Seven Dwarves at the Floral Pavilion, New Brighton, from December 19 until January 10, said: "Having the grotto allows the charity to raise much-needed funds for the hospice at a key time of year in a busy and vibrant shopping centre."