DANCERS dazzled as the annual Strictly Dance Fever competition took to the floor for its 10th year in a row.

The East Lothian charity event, which is organised by Bett Morrison, takes its lead from the BBC hit show Strictly Come Dancing and raises funds for local causes.

This year the glitterball event raised an amazing £23,000 for Leuchie House.

Nearly 450 people went along to watch the ‘Strictly Leuchie’ event with 11 amateur dancers, each paired with a professional partner, battling it out at Haddington Corn Exchange last Friday.

The couples were paired up at the end of June and spent the last 10 weeks learning a routine and perfecting their moves.

Each pair had a different dance style including the jive, the American smooth, swing, modern jive, Irish and disco.

On the night, after each couple had performed their routine, the audience voted for their three favourites. After the votes were counted the three finalists took to the floor again in a dance-off.

Sam Lowe, a lobster fisherman, and his partner Leigh Morrison performed a fast-paced Charleston featuring lifts, back flips, cartwheels and even a unicycle!

Maxine Kinnaird, a dog-groomer and farmer’s wife, and Ann-Marie Hay impressed with a high-kicking Irish dance.

And neurologist Robin Grant and Rebecca Bowden did a colourful African-themed modern jive to the soundtrack from The Lion King.

The audience then voted again, choosing Sam and Leigh as their favourite dancing couple and the winners of the Strictly trophy.

Sam, 25, from Gullane, works as a lobster fisherman during the summer, while in the winter months he’s a self-employed tree surgeon. In his spare time he trains in a circus and teaches teeter boarding.

He said the Strictly competition presented him with a new challenge, adding: “I’m always looking for something new, fun and exciting to do.”

Partner Leigh Morrison is a busy mum to Finlay, eight, and works part-time as a pupil support teacher in Midlothian. She has enjoyed dancing over the years in a number of amateur musicals.

This is the 10th year that a Strictly-themed dance competition has been organised for charity by Bett Morrison from Gifford.

She said: “What an amazing night of dancing. Sam and Leigh wowed the packed Corn Exchange with a show-stopping Charleston routine full of tricks and flicks to win the Niall Fairgrieve Memorial Trophy.

“All the contestants were outstanding and the atmosphere was electric. To have raised so much for Leuchie House is wonderful – they certainly came out on top.”

Lana Bambridge, Leuchie House’s fundraising development manager, said: “We are thrilled that Strictly Leuchie has raised so much for our charity. It was a wonderful night and Leuchie staff and volunteers really enjoyed being part of it.

“We can honestly say it’s the fundraising event with the most glitter and hairspray we’ve ever been involved in!

“The amateur dancers were incredible. To go from never having danced in public before to performing so well in front of a huge audience after only 10 weeks takes loads of hard work and commitment. The fact that they’ve done all this to raise money for Leuchie, to help us to keep delivering respite breaks, is really special and we are very grateful to them, to all their professional partners, the amazing Bett Morrison and all the many other people who were involved in making it such a huge success.”