Every young patient at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital will be given a present this Christmas, thanks to bingo players in the city.

Gala Bingo in Cowley Road, Oxford, collected 150 gifts to give to children at the hospital in Headington after asking its customers to buy an extra present this year.

Staff accumulated so many gifts that there were enough left over for children at Helen House hospice in Leopold Street, off Cowley Road.

The eight children at the hospice are due to spend Christmas at home with their families, but about 25 young patients are staying at the JR for treatment.

Pam Huntley, a nursing assistant at the JR adolescent unit, said she was amazed at the generosity, following pleas to companies to think of sick children during the Christmas period.

She said: "A lot of my friends and I wrote to firms asking them to donate a present for the children's wards. Gala asked customers to help fill boxes they had put on the stage."

Bingo hall customers gave so many presents that one will be left at the bottom of each of the 64 beds in the paediatric unit.

Miss Huntley said: "Getting presents does make them smile and a lot of them love the atmosphere in the wards so much that they say they wish they weren't going home.

"We really try to make it bubbly and happy for them and put in that extra little bit of effort."

Helen House spokesman Catherine Wilson said: "All of the children staying with us are going home. That's where they should be over Christmas, unless they really have to stay here.

"These presents won't just go to the patients, but to their brothers and sisters, and it's brilliant -- the generosity is just amazing.

"We would like to thank everyone who has supported us this year. We couldn't survive without their help."

Gala Bingo assistant manager David Chipperfield said: "We put out the boxes and it just went mad! We have got gifts, ranging from colouring books and pens to cuddly toys for every bed, and each child will also get a selection pack of chocolates."

Motorbike manufacturer Harley Davidson, whose European headquarters are in Cowley, visited the JR children's wards with a stack of gifts for patients, including two mini Harley-Davidson bike rocking chairs.