A COUNCILLOR with severe hearing difficulties has written to NHS chiefs to demand action over long waits for hearing aids.

County councillor Reg Ord, 70, from Dipton, County Durham, has been on the waiting list for a £33,000 cochlear implant for more than a year.

He faces at least another six-month wait before he could be considered for an implant.

Two months ago, Coun Ord was told there were no funds to pay for the advanced cochlear implant he needs to hear properly again.

It follows a surge in demand for the implants.

Last week, he met consultants at The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, to discuss his case.

Told that there was no prospect of being considered for an implant until the new financial year next April, Coun Ord took action.

In a letter to the chairman of County Durham Primary Care Trust, Lady Ann Calman, he criticised the "lack of will" to help patients with severe hearing loss.

He wrote: "I do not expect preferential treatment for being a local councillor.

"However, as a resident and taxpayer of County Durham, I, like all of our residents, am entitled to a quality of life."

Coun Ord added: "I actually hear nothing more than a mumble when people talk to me and I desperately try to read their lips and ask them to speak slowly".

A spokeswoman for the South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust said the NHS had agreed to fund 20 cochlear implants in the current financial year, three more than the previous year.

A spokeswoman for County Durham PCT said: "We are taking Coun Ord's comments very seriously. We will look into this and get back to him as soon as possible."