Speedier diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer has been made possible following the tragic death of a 19-year-old mathematics student.

The £100,000 raised following the death in 2001 of Sarah McKie, of Haworth, is to be spent on developing a new unit at Airedale General Hospital.

The Sarah McKie room will be part of a new breast care wing at the hospital in Steeton, near Keighley.

Airedale NHS Trust is pumping more than £4 million into transforming the old theatre wing into a special area for the treatment of the disease and care and recuperation of patients.

The development project, which has been running for about two years, is due to be completed by the end of March.

Consultant surgeon Ali Nejim, who treated Sarah, said the money enabled them to enhance vastly the facilities on offer.

"Essentially it will help us speed up the processing, diagnosis and treatment of patients.

"I can't thank enough all those who have helped raise money for this worthy cause," he said.

A big slice of the cash - £38,000 - will be spent on a digital faxitron machine, hi-tech equipment which enables staff to check more accurately that certain breast tumours have been removed adequately.

The room will also be equipped with video conference facilities which will allow specialist medics throughout the region to consult each other and transfer images and information much faster.

And information about diagnosis will be transferred much more quickly to patients' GPs.

Sarah, a former pupil of Oakbank School, Keighley, was one of the youngest victims of breast cancer in the country.

She died less than a year after discovering the disease and following a double mastectomy.

As well as benefiting from the Sara McKie fund, which was spearheaded by United Co-op, the health trust has received a £300,000 bequest enabling it to improve the unit with a women's health service clinic.