A BEST-SELLING author will visit Dorset for a charity event.

Lesley Pearse, who has sold more than 10 million books over her prolific career, will come to the county for a literary lunch in support of the NSPCC.

She will speak at the event following a two-course meal and a talk delivered by Michelle Green, the NSPCC Speak out Stay safe Area Co-ordinator.

Lesley, who was in the past the president of the charity's Bath fundraising branch, said: "I have always felt the NSPCC was wonderful since the time when I was a child.

"So fast forward many years, always being a champion of the charity, I became involved in the Bath fundraising branch some 25 years ago, eventually becoming their president.

"In my early writing years I always gave fees from giving talks to the charity, and still do now.

"There is a common theme in almost all of my books about people damaged as children.

"I cannot stop damage to children, but I like to think that writing about people who have suffered this way, acknowledges that pain and can maybe help in some small way."

Attendees of the literary lunch will have the opportunity to meet Lesley and get their copies of her latest book signed.

It will take place at Dudsbury Golf Club, Ferndown on Thursday, January 30.

Organiser Hazel Boyle said: "We are very excited to be hosting this lunch. Lesley is an enthusiastic supporter of our charity and we are confident that any money raised will be so important in changing the lives of children who desperately need our help."

The NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) is a charity that works to safeguard children.

Its Speak out Stay safe programme aims to help children identify types of abuse as well as finding a adult they can trust if they need to talk to someone.

This programme was presented to more than 17,000 Dorset children during the 2018/19 academic year.