FOOTBALLER turned broadcaster Eric Gates launched a £750,000 scanner that is almost doubling the number of patients being screened at Bishop Auckland General Hospital.

The former Sunderland, Ipswich and England star, who is now one of Century Radio's Three Legends, performed the opening ceremony last week.

The 'open magnet' Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner, is the first of its kind in the UK, and is a joint venture between Lodestone Patient Care Ltd and County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals Trust.

It has been used since the hospital opened in June and replaces a fortnightly visiting service.

Patients are checked under an open canopy instead of passing through a tube, making it suitable for claustrophobic and very large people as well as young children.

MRI is a diagnostic imaging technique, which produces detailed cross-sectional images of the body without the potential risks associated with conventional E-rays.

It is used in the diagnosis of neurological disease of the head and spine as well as orthopaedic conditions such as back pain.

The hospital also has a CAT scanner, which was transferred from the original building into the £67m new development.