TOP comedian John Bishop paid a visit to teenagers battling cancer last week.

The Liverpudlian dropped into Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology’s Teenage Cancer Trust unit to meet patients and staff.

The visit from the award-winning comedian came just a month after he took to the stage for Teenage Cancer Trust’s annual concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

John Bishop said: “It was an inspiring day, with all the patients having a great outlook on life. It was humbling to see the effects that Teenage Cancer Trust can have by creating a specialised unit, with specialised staff.”

The new unit at Clatterbridge opened with the support of Teenage Cancer Trust in June 2010 and provides care for 16 to 18 year olds with cancer from the Merseyside and Cheshire region.

It includes four en-suite bedrooms as well as a recreational space and provides a ‘home from home’ for young people and their families.

Mark Billington, 24, who has been receiving treatment on the unit since March, said: “The unit is fantastic - it’s so good to have your own space in a modern environment and the staff are so helpful and friendly. I don’t think I would have coped as well on a main ward.

“It’s great that John Bishop has come to see the unit, he’s a really funny fella and when we were chatting it was like chatting to one of the lads.”

Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology chief executive Andrew Cannell added: “This unit has been a superb addition to the services that we provide at the Centre and is a huge benefit to our teenage patients.

"Our specialist teenage and young adult team do a fantastic job, and we’d just like to thank John for his time in visiting them and the patients. Being admitted into hospital can be demanding on patients and their families - his visit is a welcomed relief from what can be a very difficult time.”

For more information about Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, visit www.ccotrust.nhs.uk