A RIBBLE Valley company is holding a candle for people struck down by breast cancer.

Candle firm Melt has entered into a partnership with national charity Breast Cancer Campaign to supply special pink candles to raise awareness of the disease.

The charity partnership means that Melt is now withdrawing its "In the Pink" candle, which is fragranced with the essential oils of rose, lily, galbanum, peppermint and musk, from general sale.

However, this will be re-launched this month with a pink ribbon -- the international symbol of breast cancer awareness.

And for every candle sold, 15 per cent of the price tag will be donated to Breast Cancer Campaign to support the charity's research work.

The candle will also sport the campaign's pink jigsaw piece logo, as well as retain its original signature card, which reads: "Better to light a candle than curse the darkness".

Cheryl Hook, 41, founder of Melt, which began as a kitchen table hobby in her Waddington home six years ago, said: "There are very few women who haven't been touched by breast cancer.

"We should all do our bit to help beat breast cancer and this is our way of helping. Our motive for this is quite personal because we've had close friends with breast cancer.

"We contacted the campaign just after Christmas and offered to help in some way. We already had a candle called In the Pink so we felt we were ready to help.

Someone with a high profile like Kylie Minogue contracting breast cancer proves this disease is completely indiscriminate."

To mark the re-launch of its candle, Melt is hosting an In the Pink weekend at the company workshop in Backridge Farm, Twitter Lane, Waddington.

The In the Pink weekend kicks off at 10am on Friday, June 24 and runs until 4pm on Sunday June 26.

Cheryl and the Melt team will serve refreshments to visitors, who will be among the first in the country able to buy the candle.

It will then go on sale through usual Melt outlets.

Melt supplies to more than 450 independent gift shops nationwide, including Presentation, Moor Lane, Clitheroe, and Shackletons Garden Centre, Chatburn.