EXCITED children watched balloons soar into the sky yesterday to celebrate the latest milestone in a Northumberland market town’s £60m retail revolution.

Youngsters from Morpeth’s Goosehill nursery school were special guests at the event to mark the completion of the flagship £35.5m Sanderson Arcade shopping development.

Along with a new £24m superstore planned for the Low Stanners area, the Edwardian-style mall is transforming the town’s ageing shopping facilities in an investment which will create up to 700 new jobs.

Yorkshire-based developer Dransfield Properties also handed over a cheque for £30,500, which will pay for groundbreaking pain relief and relaxation equipment for young patients at the Great North Children’s Hospital (GNCH) in Newcastle.

Sanderson Arcade has raised the money after adopting the Children’s Foundation as its chosen charity when the first phase of the shopping mall was opened by Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley, in November 2009.

It will be used to buy interactive 3D sensory equipment which helps distract young hospital patients when they are undergoing painful procedures such as having dressings changed. The technology is already being used in the GNCH burns unit, and the £30,500 will allow it to be extended into the children’s rehabilitation unit to help youngsters aged from three to 16.

It involves the children watching interactive wall and ceiling mounted images through 3D glasses to relax and distract them both before and during medical procedures.

The £30,500 was raised through various events and collections at the Morpeth centre, as well as an annual charity bike ride by Dransfield staff.

Yesterday Dransfield Properties managing director, Mark Dransfield, said: “When I heard about the Children’s Foundation and the work it does to help North East children, I was deeply moved and determined to raise enough money to buy the 3D sensory equipment.”

Children’s Foundation chairman Prof Stephen Singleton said: “This is remarkable, innovative technology and Dransfield and the Sanderson Arcade can rest assured that their fundraising efforts will directly benefit the lives of hundreds of children across the North East.”

Work on building Sanderson Arcade started in July 2008 and the 27-unit development has been completed in two phases.

It has created 410 full and part-time jobs and staff expect to welcome visitor number three million by the end of next week.