An appeal launched in the wake of the May 2017 Manchester Arena bombing has reached a final total of £21.6 million.

The majority of cash raised by the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, which stopped taking donations at the end of January, has gone to bereaved families, but trustees of the charity were keen to also help those who need ongoing medical support and care.

The remaining £1.1 million from the fund launched days after the attack will be given to those who suffered significant injuries, including money - match-funded by the NHS - for six months of intensive physiotherapy care at the Manchester Institute of Health and Performance.

Edith Conn, the fund's chairwoman of trustees, said: ""Manchester and the world responded with such kindness, generosity and solidarity in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack.

"In raising more than £21.5 million, those who donated have helped many, many people who suffered during that incident.

"The trustees of the fund understand that people have been affected very differently by the attack and, in order to discharge their responsibilities both to the beneficiaries and to the donors, have made these decisions based on ongoing physical and functional disability and clinical prognosis, following advice from medical professionals.

"As the second anniversary approaches, our thoughts as always are with all those affected by the attack."

Suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22, from Manchester, detonated his device as scores of youngsters left the venue at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on May 22 2017. Twenty-two people were killed and hundreds of others injured.

Eight-year-old Saffie Roussos, from Leyland, was the attack's youngest victim. Georgina Callander, 18, a student at Runshaw College in Leyland, and Michelle Kiss, 45, from Whalley, were also among those killed in the atrocity.