YOU'VE done it again! Delighted Magic Eye appeal organisers are celebrating after generous East Lancashire folk smashed the final target of £270,000.

There is now enough cash to buy not one or two, but three life-saving endoscopic ultrasound scanners to help in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Thousands of you have donated to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph appeal -- backed by sponsors Thwaites brewery -- and organised fundraising events.

The original target of £200,000 was topped in December and it now looks like a record £300,000 will have been raised in the space of nine months by the end of March.

The phenomenal cash total means that surgeons will now be able to use three endoscopic scanners to help people from throughout East Lancashire. And there is enough money to cover the cost of maintaining the state-of-the-art machines well into the future.

The extra equipment puts East Lancashire unequivocally at the top of cancer centres in the North West.

Patients in the area will not only benefit from radically improved diagnosis and treatment of stomach and oesophagus cancers but also from diagnosis of bronchial cancers and eventually the lower colon too.

And that is something top surgeons only dreamt about when the appeal was launched last year.

The equipment will speed up the diagnosis of oesophagus and stomach cancers thanks to the small camera-like scanner attached to the end of a flexible tube. It can be swallowed and used to produce pictures of a growth with pin-point accuracy without surgery thanks to high frequency ultrasound.

The endoscope can produce a total 360 degree image. One of the attachments will also be used for taking samples and exploratory investigations.

Kevin Young, editor of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, said: "From day one this campaign has been an outstanding success and that has largely been down to the enthusiasm and generosity of the people of East Lancashire." Ian Woolley, chairman of the Ribble Valley and Hyndburn NHS health trust, said: "It is brilliant news! This extra equipment means more people will get treated even quicker with long term visions of using it in many other areas of the body.

"The appeal has shown how all parts of the community coming together with small and big donations making a fantastic difference.

Now the expert medical teams cannot wait to get the scanners, which will be based in Blackburn, up and running.

Rob Watson, consultant surgeon, saw the equipment in action abroad. Approximately one in seven cancer deaths are due to cancers in the area accessed by these scanners -- and they are becoming more common. He said: "This is fantastic news in a very exciting area where technology is advancing all the time.

"We have the most up to date equipment now in the whole of Lancashire and Cumbria. The community spirit of East Lancashire has made that possible."

Sheila Shaw, appeal co-ordinator, said: "The generosity of the people of East Lancashire is overwhelming and the appeal continues to exceed all expectations. There are still quite a lot of cheques to be received."