A GALAXY of stars have backed a pioneering North-East project to build an alternative treatment centre for cancer patients.

Pop singer Lulu is just one of the celebrities who have donated items to a grand charity auction for the £1m treatment centre.

The fiesty Scottish singer and presenter has donated a Gianni Versace suit worth thousands of pounds.

Others who contributed items range from Prince Charles to Oasis, Jimmy Nail to James Bolam and from the England football team to ballerina Darcey Bussell.

All proceeds from the May 8 event - to be held at the Cellnet Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough - will help the Holistic Cancer Care Project.

It has already raised more than £430,000 towards its £1m target.

"The response to our appeal for donations has been amazing," said project manager Sue Stephenson.

"A lot of celebrities have gone to a lot of trouble to help us out. Ewan McGregor was filming in Australia, but he got his brother to bring back autographed Star Wars merchandise for us.

"We are very, very hopeful we will raise a lot of money at the auction," she said.

Prince Charles has donated a limited edition lithograph of one of his own watercolour paintings, of a Greek landscape.

Cartoonist Bill Tidy, whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Private Eye, drew two cartoons especially for the auction.

Work on the new centre, alongside the radiotherapy unit at South Cleveland Hospital, Middlesbrough, is expected to start later this week.

Once open, it will offer the best of complementary therapies, such as aromatherapy, acupuncture and reflexology, to patients undergoing more conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Like the NHS treatment provided by hospital, all complementary therapy will be free to patients.

Trained counsellors and complementary practitioners funded by the project are already working alongside the nurses, radiographers and medical staff, who look after the patients referred to the hospital's radiotherapy department.

Some of the practitioners are NHS staff who have had further training in complementary therapies.

When the circular Holistic Care Centre is built, it will include an information desk and library where people can find out more about cancers and their treatment.

Tickets for the celebrity auction are available from the Radiotherapy Department at South Cleveland Hospital tel. (01642) 854839 at a cost of £5.

Doors open for viewing at the Riverside Stadium at 6pm. The auction gets underway at 7pm