Cancer patients are to benefit from a specialised �2m unit at a north Wales hospital.

Whilst some people requiring chemotherapy treatment are seen at Wrexham Maelor hospital, others have to endure a 70-mile round trip to Glan Clwyd hospital in Bodelwyddan.

The new unit will be built at the Wrexham Maelor

The new Shooting Star Centre, based at the Maelor hospital, will provide a day ward for chemotherapy and blood transfusions and a designated women's clinic, for patients with or without cancer.

Julie Hinchliffe, appeal manager said it has taken three-and-a-half years to raise the money.

"The unit will cost �2m but we have raised �2.5m," she said.

"It has been an epic journey and we've met so many fantastic people at various stages of their lives."

Julie Hinchliffe has helped raise �2.5m

The building work, which is expected to last 14 months, will begin in January.

The hospital serves 300,000 people and it is hoped the new unit with specially designed accommodation will make patients feel more comfortable.

A ceremony has already been held at the spot where the cancer unit will be built.

Sheila Griffiths, who's husband Arnold died from cancer, was asked to cut the project's first sod.

"To see Sheila there was quite emotional," said Mrs Hinchliffe.

Cancer figures

"Arnold was a patient who would have benefited from the centre."

The new unit would help many people throughout north Wales.

Welsh Assembly statistics for 1998 revealed the region had the highest incidence of cancer cases among women in Wales.

Figures for the same year showed that seven per cent of women and 3.9% of men in north Wales area had received some form of treatment for cancer.

Between 1995 -1998, the percentage of cancer cases among women increased by an average of 1% in most regions in Wales.