“We are so excited to be involved in what will be a magnificent facility.

“You will be seeing a much stronger presence from the Marina Dalglish Appeal over the coming year – we have been blown away by the generosity of our supporters in the past and I know with the same support we will reach our target to help fund this much needed and hopeful facility.” It is a national recommendation that patients should not travel more than 45 minutes for radiotherapy, but at the moment two thirds of cancer patients in Merseyside and Cheshire have a longer distance to go.

As the incidence of cancer is increasing and techniques to screen and detect the disease are improving, it is anticipated that more radiotherapy services will be needed to meet the increase in demand for treatment.

Clinical Director of Radiotherapy at the Centre, Dr Brian Haylock said: “We are investing in this development for the simple reason that it will be a huge benefit to patients in this region, and patient care is at the heart of everything we do.

“Current services at the Wirral site will continue as before but a significant portion of our patients will no longer need to travel to Wirral to receive their cancer treatment.”