Who star opens youth cancer unit

Roger Daltrey with cancer patients Allister Boyd and Scott Saunders

Scotland's first specialist unit providing dedicated care for young cancer patients has been opened.

The six-bed ward at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow will treat youngsters aged 13 to 25.

Roger Daltrey, singer with The Who and patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, launched the new facility.

Patients will have TVs, game consoles and internet access to help keep them occupied and stay in touch with friends and family.

Comfortable surroundings

It is the trust's eighth unit in the UK but many more are needed, according to Daltrey.

Daltrey, who along with The Who will headline this year's Glastonbury Festival, said: "It's great we've been able to open a ward in Glasgow but we need more of them so that every teenager in the UK can have access to one."

The £500,000 unit aims to give teenagers going through cancer treatment the chance to be treated with people their own age and in comfortable surroundings.

The facility will ensure that Scottish teenagers with cancer are getting the best possible treatment Simon Davies Teenage Cancer Trust

More than 2,000 teenagers are diagnosed with cancer in the UK each year, about 160 of them living in Scotland, according to TCT. The trust says it hopes to open further units in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Chief executive Simon Davies said: "We are delighted to have opened Scotland's first Teenage Cancer Trust unit at the New Beatson in Glasgow.

"The facility will ensure that Scottish teenagers with cancer are getting the best possible treatment.

"We are grateful to all at the New Beatson for their continued support and assistance in creating this state-of-the-art facility."

The Who will begin a major European tour later this month.

The band, formed in the 1960s, will visit almost 30 cities starting with Lisbon on 16 May.