Paul Burrell won a big following during his time in the jungle

Nightingale Hospice in Wrexham needs to raise �1.65m every year and staff said they were delighted with the windfall.

Mr Burrell, who runs a florist in Holt, near Wrexham, spent 16 days in the Australian jungle with the TV show.

The money he raised depended on the number of votes he received in coming second to comic Joe Pasquale.

During his time in the jungle the Princess of Wales' former butler had to eat a stomach-churning menu including worms, beetle larvae, cockroaches, cheese fruit - or "vomit fruit" - and kangaroo testicles.

This is a terrific sum of money for the hospice and was well worth Paul going through the agony Jo Young, Nightingale House fundraiser

He gained a following for his horrified reactions to his trials, and his determination to complete them.

Jo Young, a fundraiser at Nightingale House, said staff and patients were delighted with the money raised by Mr Burrell, who has been a patron of the charity for six years.

"This is a terrific sum of money for the hospice and was well worth Paul going through the agony of balancing on a tightrope high in the Australian trees, being shut into a cave with spiders and snakes and putting his hand into black holes with moving insects and animals," said Ms Young.

Paul Burrell has helped raise more than �136,000 for the hospice

"We're absolutely delighted and the money will go onto patient care and help support their families."

She said the �136,278 was what they were hoping for.

"Six figures were mentioned in the early days," she added.

A total of 16p from every vote for him went to his chosen charity.

Mr Burrell, a father-of-two, has long been a supporter of the hospice and visited the centre before flying out to Australia.

More than 400 patients stay at the hospice every year but hundreds more attend the day care centre.

North Wales Health Authority annually contributes more than �250,000 but this falls short of the cost of the site, which relies heavily on money from the community.

Volunteers are left needing to find �1.4m every 12 months.

In 2002 Nightingale House had to make redundancies following a reduction in its grant from the health authority.

The unit now has room for only 12 inpatients following the job cuts.