It was the shirt worn by Matthew Le Tissier when his hat-trick clinched Saints' Premiership survival.

Now it is playing a major role in helping to save the lives of children with serious heart conditions.

For the soccer hero's shirt was one of the star lots in a fundraising auction which raised more than £8,000 for the Wessex Children's Heart Circle.

Now this prized sporting souvenir has helped to buy life-saving equipment for the children's cardiac ward at Southampton General Hospital.

The Dynamap, which measures the level of oxygen in the blood, was officially handed over during a ceremony at the hospital, attended by members of the Wessex Children's Heart.

They included Mark Ind, general manager of the Holiday Inn, Southampton, who organised the auction during a "turkey and tinsel" theme evening at the Audleys Wood Hotel in Basingstoke.

A wide cross-section of the community backed the event, which was also dedicated to Callum Smith.

The Chandler's Ford youngster died just a few weeks before his third birthday after a brave battle against an acute heart condition.

Mr Ind, who lives at Chandler's Ford, has a personal interest in the work of the heart charity. His five-year-old son Alexander has had open heart surgery and faces another major operation in two years time.

Mr Ind said that plans were going ahead for a similar fundraising evening on October 16 at the Holiday Inn, Southampton.