Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton has dug deep to celebrate the start of building work on a £15m teenage cancer centre in Belmont.

Fearne, 27, donned a hard hat to cut one of the first sods of turf during a ceremony at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Downs Road.

The new building, to be furnished by the Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT), will house the biggest unit in Europe for youngsters with cancer.

During her tour on Tuesday morning, Fearne was shown the detailed plans, which include creating world-leading paediatric drug development wards.

The presenter also chatted to several patients including Hannah Coltherd, 10, the face of the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign’s Our Plan appeal.

Hannah said: “It was great to meet Fearne. I have seen her on the television and listened to her radio show and I really enjoyed spending the morning with her. She was great fun and was really interested in the plans for the new centre.”

Professor Andy Pearson, head of the existing clinical unit for children and teenagers, was delighted that construction work was already under way.

He said: “This is such an exciting time for the Marsden. The new centre will not only double inpatient and day capacity, it will house a world leading drug development programme for children and teenagers, where we can test new anti-cancer agents on site for the first time anywhere in the world.”

Our Plan fundraisers are still seeking schools and community groups to support the campaign by asking pupils or members to pay £1 to sport a mad hairstyle.

To order a free hair-raising resource pack, which contains information as well as balloons, posters, stickers, a collection box and a donation form, go to royalmarsden.org/schools.