HUNDREDS of babies born prematurely in Bolton could be helped by the latest hi-tech equipment.

The Children's Hospitals Appeals Trust (CHAT) has pledged to raise £30,000 initially to buy the latest ultrasound machines.

These would give brain scans to the 300 or so pre-term babies born each year at the Princess Anne Maternity Unit at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

"But we need the people of Bolton to help us raise this cash, and more, to help these vulnerable tiny children," said CHAT's community development co-ordinator Liz Oakes.

The new Philips scanner will cost £40,000 altogether, with the hospital contributing the remaining £10,000.

"It will certainly be a welcome piece of equipment," said Gail Naylor, directorate manager/head of midwifery at the unit.

"When babies are born pre-term it is really important to monitor their development via brain scans. The scanner we're currently using was bought originally in 1993 and these machines have moved on so much since then.

"It would be wonderful to have the latest model for our neo-natal unit. And, because it's portable, it could also be used in the monthly cardiac clinic in the children's outpatients department."

Last year, 4,017 babies were born in the unit and the Bolton maternity unit has become the birth choice for many parents outside the area as well.

In 2001, CHAT funded a £155,000 bereavement and parent suite there, named after long-term CHAT supporter Irene Pennington's son Simon, who was killed in a car crash.

And the charity plans to add to the scanner with new incubators, infant warmers, breast pumps and resuscitators totalling over £60,000.

"We hope that local people will really get behind CHAT's work," added Gail. "But we get so much good support from everyone that we feel sure they will."