A DOCTOR of mathematics and talented artist from Ulverston is part of a group travelling from Leeds to Genoa on a 40-year-old double-decker bus, campaigning for a new deal on Third World debt later this month.

The trip is part of the Drop the Debt campaign to get the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to cancel the debt they are owed by the world's poorest countries.

Campaigners want the money to be freed so the countries can spend it on basic health and educational needs, including HIV treatments.

Doctor of mathematics at Leeds University, Joanna Brown, 34, of Ulverston, and 21-year-old student Stephanie Lloyd, of Workington, are part of the group of seven travelling from Leeds to Genoa to join Drop the Debt campaigners from around the world.

The group was due to travel on a double-decker bus, fitted with furniture, beds and a bath, from Leeds Millennium Square yesterday (Thurs-day), and arrive in Genoa next Saturday, July 21.

To raise money for the trip, 20 prints of the bus - produced by Dr Brown and currently on display in the West Yorkshire Playhouse - are to be auctioned.

Dr Brown moved to Leeds in the late 1970s to study

for her degree in mathematics.

Miss Lloyd said: "Hopefully, if everything goes to plan, we will arrive in Genoa in time for the summit, but we can only travel at 40 miles per hour in the bus."