A whopping cheque raised at a charity football match has been presented to the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) at Ashford’s William Harvey Hospital.

The money was raised at the kmfm Charity Challenge Cup match between a Celebrity XI - that included ex-Liverpool and England star Neil 'Razor' Ruddock and former Everton and Wales goalkeeper Neville Southall, and an Ashford Town past and present side.

It was handed over to the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) at Homelands football stadium, where the game was played last month, on Saturday night.

The cheque for £7,200 was presented by Gary Kirton, a director of Ashford Town FC to Jose White, the CCU manager.

It included money raised from the 1,800 tickets sold, plus additional donations.

Mr Kirton organised the celebrity football match after the unit saved his life last year.

The money will pay for a heart monitor, and Ms White brought one along to Homelands to show Mr Kirton and the other guests.

The device, which monitors heart rate, blood pressure and has an alarm system to alert staff to any heart abnormalities, costs between £6,000 and £7,000 so the cash raised will pay for at least one monitor.

Mr Kirton said: “It was quite a thrill to hand over the cheque - and it was quite emotional.”

Ms White thanked Mr Kirton, Ashford Town FC and the celebrities for their time and energy.

She said: “The response was overwhelming and it shows the people of Ashford really do support the NHS.”

A DVD of the match is coming out next week and it will reveal who actually won.

The game ended in a 4-4 draw on the night so Mr Kirton and kmfm’s Webbo (John Webster) have competed in a penalty shoot out to decide the winner, and that will be revealed on the DVD.

DVDs are priced £13 each with £3 from each sale going to the CCU.

They will be available from next week from Gary Kirton on 07850 747198.