HER Royal Highness Sophie, Countess of Wessex, has pledged her full support for a Hampshire charity's plans to build a £3m hi-tech heart centre in Southampton.

Together with her husband Edward, Earl of Wessex, she hosted a Buckingham Palace reception for Southampton-based Wessex Heartbeat.

Celebrities including comedian Rory Bremner, sports presenter Des Lynam and Lord Montagu of Beaulieu turned out as the countess led 120 invited guests on a virtual tour of the proposed centre, which should open in 2006.

She gave the royal seal of approval to the plans before launching the charity's £3.5m fundraising drive.

Wessex Heartbeat chief executive Alan Blair said: "The countess knows this is such an important project and when she spoke she urged everyone to support it.

"She's an excellent patron and we are extremely grateful to the countess for hosting the launch of our project."

Now in its 11th year, Wessex Heartbeat has already raised more than £8m to support NHS funding of the Wessex Cardiac Centre at Southampton General Hospital.

But over the next two years it hopes to provide a £3m complex for education, training and development, which will be incorporated in the £53m expansion of the General Hospital.

As well as state-of-the-art equipment, the centre will include 50 extra beds, 12 emergency care beds, two new theatres, a day centre and a lecture theatre.

Meanwhile the charity also plans to double the size of its family support accommodation unit Rotary Heartbeat House in Tremona Road.