A WARSHIP'S crew has provided a hospital's baby unit with a cash boost.

Chief petty officers from HMS Marlborough - Middlesbrough's adopted frigate - have raised £1,400 for the premature baby unit at the town's James Cook University Hospital.

It was while they were on a recent visit to the town that Marlborough's crew heard the tragic story of a baby girl whose father died while he was raising money to thank the hospital for looking after her.

Ian Abberley, from Swainby, died earlier this year after crashing into a rock face in Devon, during a five-man sponsored cycle ride from Land's End to John O'Groats.

His daughter, Phoebe, had weighed in at just 1lb 5oz at birth when her mother, Isobel, was just 26 weeks into her pregnancy.

The infant underwent several operations.

Mr Abberley had planned to raise £20,000 for the neonatal unit.

While at sea, members of Marlborough's crew came up with a number of ideas to make money, including raffles and sweepstakes, and raised £1,400 for the unit.

Neonatal services manager Martyn Boyd said: "It's a very fitting tribute to Ian that people from far and wide have been touched by this story.

"We're very grateful to the crew of HMS Marlborough for this generous donation which we plan to use to buy monitoring equipment for very tiny babies when they come to us from the delivery suite."

Mr Abberley's fellow cyclists have worked tirelessly to raise money for Phoebe's Wish Fund, set up by her late father to give premature babies a better chance of survival.

And they have already presented the hospital with a cheque for £30,000 to help premature and sickly babies.