NORTH-EAST actress Jill Halfpenny returned to the region to open a breast-screening centre yesterday.

The Gateshead-born actress, a former EastEnders star and winner of last year's Strictly Come Dancing, was in the region to open a £4m breast screening and assessment centre.

Ms Halfpenny took time out from her latest play, The Bodies, to tour the centre and meet staff and patients at Gateshead's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

She said: "It is always nice to be back in the North-East, particularly for something as important as this.

"My family still live in Gateshead and I am delighted to open a facility that benefits so many women living in the area."

The breast screening centre, which has been treating patients since early last year, is helping the hospital to screen more patients than ever.

The unit combines screening, assessment and cases referred from GPs under one roof.

It enables resources, technology and the expertise of up to 45 staff, including radiographers, surgeons, consultants, pathologists and nurses, to be pooled.

The centre has the latest equipment, including the first prone biopsy treatment table of its kind in the region.

Dr Linsley Lunt, consultant radiologist at the hospital, said: "Our patients and staff were thrilled that Jill was able to take time out from her busy schedule to open the unit. She is a local girl and this is very much a facility that will benefit other women in the area."