A MULTI-MILLION pound state-of-the-art breast screening unit is set to be built in Maidstone.

The new unit is being named after a veteran local fund-raiser, 77-year-old Peggy Wood. She has helped raise more than £700,000 for breast cancer equipment at the town.

Members of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust announced this week that £3million had been allocated to build the new unit. The announcement coincided with a presentation by Mrs Wood of an £80,000 ultra sound machine for the breast screening unit at Preston Hall, Aylesford. It replaces an older machine bought in the 1990s by Mrs Wood through her charity, the Kent Leukaemia and Cancer Equipment Fund. Mrs Wood started up her charity in 1986 after her grandson was diagnosed with leukaemia.

Funding for the new purpose-built breast screening unit is subject to final approval, but work could begin on the scheme in September. The new unit could be open at Maidstone Hospital by September 2003.