RUGBY fan Francesca Wedel became the 20,000th patient to use Europe's busiest scanner yesterday.

Newcastle Falcons player Richard Arnold and coach Peter Walton were on hand to help the gallery administrator from Northumberland when she visited Newcastle Nuffield Hospital.

The magnetic resonance imaging machine, which works without radiation to identify bones and muscle tissue, was installed ten years ago and upgraded at a cost of £500,000 two years ago