Friends and family of a car-loving toddler with four heart defects have raised more than £2,400 for the hospital that saved his life.

Rocco Dowsett from Clacton, was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a combination of four heart defects, and had to undergo multiple operations after being blue-lit from Colchester to the Royal Brompton Hospital.

Rocco's fundraiser proved to be a huge success, with people attending in their numbers, bringing along their cars to show their support.

He was only given a life expectancy of two, and with his second birthday next month, his parents Leah Purkiss and Alfie Dowsett has thanked Brompton Hospital saying: "They saved our little boy's life.

"If it wasn't for the hospital, I don't think our boy would be here right now."

Held on August 21 at the Suffolk Aviation Museum in Ipswich, Leah and Alfie, with Scotty from Double Clutch UK, managed to put on a successful day raising £2,452.13 for the Brompton Foundation.

Due to Rocco and his family being huge car fans, much of the day was centred around that, with around 150 cars turning up.

Leah said: "It was absolutely crazy, I never thought this many people would come support our little boy, it means the absolute world.

"Alfie and I attended a Ford fair a couple of weeks back and, as Rocco's favourite colour is green, we went round to ever green Ford Focus RS we had seen and put Rocco's Instagram under the window wipers in the hope that one would attend.

"We were lucky enough to have two turn up, and one of them had driven two hours just to attend Rocco's show. It made our day."

There were also competitions running throughout the day, including best wheels and best car.

Leah continued: "Gates opened at 11am and five minutes later, the whole road was blocked. The amount of cars queueing had us all in complete shock.

"We are so grateful to everyone that attended, sent messages and donated to our chosen charity.

"The charity means the world to our little family, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us reach our target and raising some money for a well deserved cause."

Co-organiser Scotty from Double Clutch UK, said: "We were very proud of the outcome and all the positive things achieved on the day for both the Brompton Foundation and the Aviation Heritage Museum."