A KNARESBOROUGH garden is being opened to the public in memory of a "special" little boy.

Joshua Scarlett-Abbott died last year from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer, aged seven.

His parents have set up an appeal in his memory to raise £75,000 for a paediatric ambulance with a special life support system known as ECMO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation).

Now Joshua's grandmother, Chris Abbott, is opening her garden to support the appeal.

Mrs Abbott won the Royal Horticultural Society/Daily Mail National Garden Competition in 1997, and was awarded life membership of the society.

She spends all her time in her two acre garden which includes a 75ft long herbaceous border, alpine plants, and a wildlife area.

Visitors can buy plants and tea will be served, with all proceeds going to Joshua's appeal.

Mrs Abbott says she hopes people will support the cause in memory of her "extremely special" grandson.

The garden, at Kelberdale, Wetherby Road, Knaresborough, will be open every Sunday from now until July 6 from 11am to 5pm, and also on Wednesdays May 28, June 11 and June 18 from noon to 8pm.

ECMO is a system which oxygenates blood outside the body to give the heart and lungs a rest. Joshua needed ECMO when he had a critical lung infection in December 2001.

If the appeal is successful, the paediatric ambulance will enable the rapid transfer of critically ill children all over the United Kingdom.

For more details, contact The Joshua Scarlett-Abbott ECMO Ambulance Appeal, Carrier House, Main Street, Langton, Malton, YO17 9QP.

Updated: 11:16 Friday, April 25, 2003