Award-winning actor James McAvoy has donated £275,000 towards a crowdfunder raising money to buy vital equipment for NHS staff fighting coronavirus.

The campaign's target was £200,000, but with the help of the Scottish actor it has now gone over the £440,000 mark, with a new goal of £500,000.

The fundraiser will pay for the much-need Personal Protective Equipment such as gloves, masks and eye protection.

The X-men and Split actor took to Instagram to shine a light on the fund, saying: "Hello I'm James McAvoy and I'm here to talk to you about a campaign called Masks for Heroes.

"We have all heard stories about nurses and doctors having to buy their own PPE from the internet or DIY stores and frankly the products aren't good enough and the situation isn't either.

"Not only does it put the doctors and nurses at risk from contracting the coronavirus, it puts them at risk from passing it onto their patients or their patients families."

Dr Salaj Masand, one of the medics behind the campaign, told The Guardian McAvoy's donation was 'mindblowing' and his money meant that 75,000 visors and 75,000 masks could immediately be put to use in the NHS.

He said: “This is a global catastrophic event and an extremely tough time for governments across world, no different from ours. There is a worldwide shortage of PPE likely to go on for months.

 “The government is doing all it can but the NHS needs all the help it can get. We are also competing with the commercial market who are trying to sell the same PPE for extraordinary prices.”