WITH widescreen TVs, computer consoles, brightly-coloured walls, DVD players and laptops, this cancer ward is definitely Slicker Than Your Average.

So it was only appropriate that Southampton’s R&B star Craig David, who recorded an album with that name, returned to his home city to open its new facility for teenagers and young people battling all forms of the disease.

The interim two-bedroom ward at Southampton General Hospital is just a taster for what will hopefully become a larger purpose-built £2m unit as part of a new oncology centre created on the site.

The first of its kind anywhere in the south-east, the Teenage Cancer Trust-funded facility is specifically designed for the needs of 13 to 24-year-olds with cancer.

Until now, they’ve either found themselves receiving treatment alongside toddlers or pensioners.

So for those whose conditions can mean days on end sitting in a hospital bed, having things to do and other people of a similar age around can be invaluable.

“I think it’s great,” said Craig, who spent time chatting with some of the “inspirational”

patients who will benefit from the new facility.

“You’ve got your TV, your DVDs, your Wii if you want to play, and you need that.

“It’s long hours going through chemotherapy of just becoming bored and you need other people you can relate to.

“For me, I would always want that if I was in that situation.”

Fundraising is now under way to make the permanent unit a reality. Of the £2m cost, £1.3m will need to be raised locally, and Craig has pledged to support the charity any way he can.

“For me, to come back to Southampton and be part of a unit like this being opened is so important because Southampton has given so much to me,” he said.

“I‘d love to do something, maybe a gig in Southampton, that we could actually donate the funds from towards the money we’re trying to raise to have the facility here.”

Nick Illston, who has been battling a brain tumour for nearly four years, has previously stayed on children’s wards during treatment, which has already involved four major operations and a bout of radiotherapy “My first time it was just me and a two-month-old baby, so there wasn’t a lot of conversation,”

said the 18-year-old from Hedge End.

“It’s always good to have someone your own age to talk to about what’s happening and just to explain what’s going onyour life – so this place will be brilliant.

“It’ll be great for every teenager who gets cancer.”