A massive fundraising effort has led to the donation of £665,000 to north Norfolk's new cancer unit.

The Cromer Community and Hospital Friends has raised the money for the North Norfolk Macmillan Centre at Cromer and District Hospital, following the centre's opening in September.

The funds will pay for prostate biopsy equipment, furniture and a state-of-the-art point of care testing blood analyser.

Shirley Davies, chairman of the Friends, said: "As a small charity run by volunteers we were daunted by the task of raising half a million pounds - our biggest project by far.

"However, we soon realised that the community was really behind us, and it is thanks to them that we not only achieved our target, but exceeded it within eighteen months, even with Covid restrictions in place for most of that time."

The centre, which cost £4.85 million to build, is there to cater for an expected boom in demand for local cancer services. It is estimated the need for such services could rise by more than 200pc over the next 10 years.