FUNDRAISERS who spent nine years raising £11,000 for specialist cancer detecting equipment said they are ‘disgusted’ it appears to have been left gathering dust.

The Oxford Laryngectomy Club provides support for people before, during and after nasal, throat and oesophageal cancer surgery.

The group, which has 25 members, has spent the best part of a decade hosting dinners and parties, laying on raffles and car boot sales to raise the cash to buy two ear, nose and throat work stations.

The instruments were supposed to be used by cancer experts to diagnose nasal, throat and oesophageal cancers.

In May the group presented the equipment to the Oxford head and neck department, which was supposed to be relocating to the Oxford Cancer Centre, at Churchill Hospital.

But in last Friday’s Oxford Mail we revealed pictures showing the equipment was not being used at the cancer centre.

It came as the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust (ORH) said it was ‘rethinking’ plans to put head and neck cancer services into the dedicated £109m centre – a pledge made two years ago.

Judy Skyrme, 70, from Hanover Gardens, Bicester, has been an Oxford Laryngectomy Club member since her late husband Roy was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1993.

She said: “We were very upset to see that the equipment has not been used so far. This isn’t a small amount of money to us and it took a long time.

“We feel very badly let down.”

The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust (ORH) refused to give a timetable for when the equipment would be used and also to guarantee that it would be used specifically for head and neck cancer patients.

Paul Brennan, director of Clinical Services at the ORH, said moving head and neck services from the John Radcliffe Hospital to the Churchill Hospital would require an additional investment of more than £1.2m each year, including ongoing staffing costs.

He added: “The Trust has a responsibility to ensure that it spends money in a way that provides maximum benefit to the majority of patients.

“This is why we are reviewing again the decision to move the head and neck services to the Blenheim Suite at the Churchill Hospital.”