SOUTHAMPTON General Hospital can now boast first-class facilities in its special youngster's accident and emergency unit.

And the first patient, three-year-old Katie Brown, soon felt at home as she was treated in the state-of-the-art suite.

Katie, from Romsey, was brought in by her mum after swallowing some soft cheese which went down the wrong way.

The new unit is part of the first phase of a £2 million re-fit of the accident and emergency area, and comprises six bays.

Each is painted in a different colour, without patterns, to appeal to young children as well as teenagers.

Children comprise a quarter of all the patients in accident and emergency and staff felt it was important for youngsters to be nursed away from the adult section, which can sometimes be disrupted by patients who have indulged in substance abuse.

Senior Sister Suzanne Knight of the emergency department said: "When children come to accident and emergency it's an alien environment and can be very frightening, on top of the fact that they have hurt themselves. What is so nice about the unit is that it's a child-friendly area."

The unit will be open from 10am-11pm.