THE Bolton Coronary Care Appeal has smashed through the £1 million barrier in style.

The feat was revealed in an announcement by appeal chairman Brett Warburton at Bolton Wanderers' annual Chairman's Ball on Saturday night.

The magnificent sum leaves the Bolton Evening News-backed appeal just £300,000 short of the target needed to pay for a state-of-the-art heart unit at Royal Bolton Hospital.

After its launch in February last year, the appeal has raced towards its target after several large donations from businesses, charity groups and wealthy benefactors.

Delighted appeal managers hailed the achievement as "phenomenal" as a huge ovation greeted Mr Warburton's announcement at the glittering charity ball.

Bolton Wanderers, who made the appeal their charity of the year, announced that they had raised £100,000 over the last year for the appeal.

And it was smiles all round on the day that they celebrated their first Premiership win of the season, at home to Middlesbrough. Players were among those at the ball at the Reebok Stadium who had given their support to the appeal.

Work has already begun on the 10-bed unit, with the first patients expected to come through the door in December.

Mr Warburton said: "The appeal has had a tremendous year. We set out to get £1.3 million and I'm delighted to reveal that, with the donations that have come in so far, we have exceeded £1 million.

"The phenomenal generosity of the people of Bolton has given the hospital enough confidence to start building the new unit, and I'm very pleased to say that we will see the first patients in December."

Among those at the ball was Wanderers director Eddie Davies, who donated £100,000 last year after undergoing heart surgery himself in 1996.

Mr Davies said: "I think this is a brilliant achievement. Bolton has one of the highest levels of heart disease in the country and this appeal will provide the money for a much-needed unit."

"This is something the community and the town can be very proud of."

The appeal was launched to ease Bolton's soaring heart disease rate after hospital bosses decided the town could not wait the minimum five years for NHS funds to build a new unit.

The new ward will have 10 beds, compared to the current unit's seven, and advanced monitoring equipment will allow doctors to treat 600 heart attack and angina patients each year.

Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce also had words of praise for the town and the fund raising committee.

"To raise so much in such a short space if time is really fantastic," he said. "This is excellent news for everyone who needs that sort of care in Bolton."

After his speech, Mr Warburton, whose father headed the original Coronary Care Appeal in 1969 , said the whole community had united in the cause -- and he urged one final push to meet the fund's target.

"This announcement has only happened tonight because of a really big effort by the people of Bolton, he said. "It has brought together people from right across the community and from all corners of the town.

"We're not quite there yet, so we can't rest on our laurels. What we need now is a big effort and we're very confident that we'll be there before Christmas."

Also present at the ball was former Mayor Cllr John Walsh, who gave £35,000 to the fund earlier this year after making it the main charity for his term in office.

"I'm absolutely delighted," he said. "This is a very important appeal and I was very proud to support it during my mayoral term.

"The response from the people of Bolton shows just how much they believed in this as a worthy cause. I'm sure it will be a tremendous success in contributing to the medical care the town offers."