Entertainer Frankie Vaughan raised some smiles when he officially opened a £680,000 extension to the Pain Relief Unit in Oxford.
The singing star was treated for back pain at the Churchill Hospital unit a year ago and last September he cut the first turf for the new extension.
Mr Vaughan, who lives in Buckinghamshire, said: "I promised to come back and perform this little duty, and I am delighted to do so because the work they do here is fantastic." And he joked: "Of course, getting on as I am now, and passing the age of 39, I suppose we are all bound to get pain."
There are now ten beds available at the Pain Relief Unit. It is one of only a handful of specialist centres in the country for helping people with chronic pain. The commonest complaint is back trouble.
The extension has been paid for by the Oxford Pain Relief Trust, a registered charity set up after the Pain Relief Unit moved to the Churchill from Abingdon Hospital eight years ago.
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