ITALIAN restaurant Donatello has thrown its support behind the Martlets’ Snailspace project.

The Brighton business has its own snail, Around the Whirled, and owner Sue Addis is a champion of the charity.

Snailspace has gone down well since last week’s launch, with the 50 snails dotted around the city proving extremely popular with families and tourists.

Sue said people were already fond of her restaurant’s snail, which sits outside it in Brighton Place.

She said: “We’re very happy – we love our snail.

“We’ve already had a lot of children looking at it on their way to school and having their pictures taken with it.”

Sue was involved with the Martlets’ Snowdogs scheme in 2016, which earned the charity more than £300,000.

The Hove-based Martlets, looks after terminally ill people.

And Sue is going even further in her efforts to support it this time – children can tuck in to a free portion of snail-shaped pasta at Donatello with each download of the Snailspace app.

Sue said: “As soon as they said they were doing snails, I was dubious about how a snail would look, but it’s fantastic.

“So we decided to make snail pasta and anyone who downloads the app gets a free portion for children.”

The app costs £1.99, with £1 of that going to Martlets. Snailspace is available on the App Store.

Over the weekend there was about £1,500 generated from people purchasing the app and Sue hopes people will continue to keep the cash coming in for Martlets.

She said: “Download the app, follow the whole Snailspace trail, read about the Martlets and the hospice and the work they do.

“You can see what a fantastic charity it is. But, like all charities, they need money to keep all the services going.”

One of the most loved things about the snails is the artwork on them.

Many are big fans of crime author Peter James’s Nee-Nor, at Brighton Palace Pier, which has sirens on and is made to look like a police car.

Around The Whirled has a globe on its back – and Sue is a big fan.

She said: “We’re really pleased with the artist, Peter Poole. His work is amazing.”