Assem Allam donates £8m for diabetes treatment centre

The £16m is to provide facilities at both Hull Royal Infirmary (left) and Castle Hill Hospital (right)

Hull City owner Assem Allam has donated almost £8m towards a new centre for the treatment of diabetes and other diseases in East Yorkshire.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will use the money for treatment and research facilities at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

Mr Allam said: "I moved to this part of the UK in 1968 and I am passionate about this region and the people."

The donation will be matched to create £16m for improvements, the trust said.

It will provide a centre for the care and treatment of diabetes and metabolic bone diseases, a new facility to treat digestive diseases and a major expansion of robotic surgery.

The cash will also provide funding for a molecular imaging research centre for patients with cancer, heart disease and dementia at Castle Hill.

New figures show the number of obese people in England has almost doubled in 20 years.

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Egyptian-born Assem Allam settled in Hull, made his fortune in marine engineering and is the chairman of Hull City

A Diabetes UK report found it had jumped from 6.9 million people in 1997 to about 13 million in 2017 - the most recent data available.

Obesity is a major driver of Type 2 diabetes, which can lead to a range of serious complications including heart and blood vessel disease, nerve and kidney damage, slow healing of wounds and sight loss.

The trust said its building work would begin early in 2020 and be ready by the end of 2021.

Mr Allam said: "I believe that, in particular, we must invest in research and development, which will improve recruitment to our hospitals at the same time as generate further investment in this great city and ultimately enable us to develop new and innovative treatments for patients."

The Queen opened the £28m Allam Medical Building at the University of Hull in 2018, which was helped by a £7m donation from Mr Allam.