Politicians were among shady characters ‘arrested’ and locked up to raise money for a hospice.

St Luke’s Hospice hosted its Jail and Bail event on Friday, March 27, locking up fundraisers at Pinner Police Station until a £1,000 bail sum had been raised.

Prisoners were allowed to keep their mobiles phones during the lock up, and many were frantically sending texts, emails and making calls to persuade friends and colleagues to stump up donations towards their £1,000 bail.

Cllr Ameet Jogia, who took park on the lock up, said: “I've always wanted to know what a cell was really like without actually getting arrested. This was the perfect opportunity, made all the better with my other convicts.

“St Luke's Hospice is an asset to our local community, and we should all try our best to support the Hospice and the excellent work it does for our community.

“I was surprised that I managed to raise £1,000 in a small amount of time, especially for such a fun activity.

“I would definitely recommend taking part in the other activities which raise money for a great cause. Hopefully that's the last time I'll ever have to go to jail.”

More than £14,500 was raised for the Kenton-based charity.

Robin Webb, chief executive of St Luke’s Hospice, was locked up with the other prisoners.

He said. “It sounded like a great idea at the time – sit in a police station with some other St Luke’s supporters, drink coffee, phone a few friends to sponsor me, pose for a few photos – job done. But it wasn’t quite that easy.

“The desk sergeant had no sense of humour and did not appreciate my witty comments and told me in no uncertain terms that if I carried on I’d be ‘banged up’ for the weekend. I thought this was going to be easy – but the police really did take it quite seriously.

“Thank you to everyone who sponsored a detainee and to my fellow prisoners who made the day so enjoyable – as well as for the amazing amount of money raised for St Luke’s and thank you to the Police for giving their time and making this happen – you were fantastic.”

Several others were locked up for the event, including Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East, President of Harrow United Deaf Club Asif Iqbal MBE, Cllr Manji Kara and Cllr Krishna Suresh, Deputy Mayor of Harrow.