Noel Edmonds has praised the Exeter Express and Echo and its readers after they raised money for a new leukaemia unit.

He was speaking as building work began on the new unit at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

Echo readers played a big part in raising £500,000 for the project and Noel, who is a patron of the Exeter Leukaemia Fund, was quick to pay tribute.

He said: "It is thanks to Express and Echo readers that we've reached this stage. People in Exeter have been extraordinarily generous."

The new unit has been built to replace the hospital's Yarty Ward which had insufficient beds to cope with the amount of leukaemia cases.

There will be extended out-patient and day-patient facilities to monitor blood cancer cases.

Although the fund has raised a total of £1 million, a further £500,000 is still needed to fully equip the unit when it opens next year.