GOOD table manners were sacrificed when 50 blindfolded guests at a Chinese restaurant took part in a fundraising Dine In The Dark event.

They sniffed their food and discarded cutlery and chop sticks – but their lack of etiquette at The Pagoda, in Bury Old Road, Whitefield, was enthusiastically welcomed by three creative young women who were raising funds for The Fed, a leading social care charity for the Jewish community.

Zoe Slotwiner, Vanessa Serene and Daniella Gardner, who make up Les Mademoiselles Committee, staged the Halloween-themed event at the restaurant. It was the trio’s second Fed fundraiser.

Blindfolded guests were led conga-style to their tables and served a three-course meal in pitch darkness, though “quite a bit of cheating took place”, according to Zoe.

Zoe and Vanessa met at school drama lessons and put their theatre skills to use in staging both events.

Zoe, who works for The Fed, said: “We had great fun theming the evening for Halloween using spooky sound-effects, tombstone table numbers, and rats, bats and severed fingers strewn around.

“Even the raffle was picked blindfolded from a bucket of ‘worm’ noodles which felt revolting.”

The dinner raised £570, which, when added to the proceeds of their first lingerie show in January, brought Les Mademoiselles Committee’s fundraising total to £2,370.

The Fed, which has its head office at Heathlands Village, Prestwich, looks after people of all ages, from babies with special needs to older people.