A BID is being made to increase the number of sight-saving transplants in the North-East.

Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital has been designated an eye retrieval centre and will receive £70,000 a year for three years from NHS UK Transplant.

The money will fund posts for cornea retrieval co-ordinator, Craig Rabbetts, and officer, Gary Miller.

They will try to increase the number of corneal donations in Teesside and parts of North Yorkshire and encourage more people to register as donors.

The drive is backed by a leaflet, featuring case studies of NHS patients whose lives have been transformed by cornea transplants made possible by the generosity of donors.

Mr Rabbetts said: "A transplanted cornea can make almost as dramatic an improvement to the life of the recipient as some of the major organs - it can be a gift of sight.

"The NHS has the capacity to perform more of these vital operations but the shortage of donated corneas limits the number of patients we can help."

A cornea transplant replaces the damaged cornea with a disc of healthy tissue from a donor.

People can register their wish to donate corneas for transplant on the NHS Organ Donor Register by calling the Organ Donor Line on 0845 606 0400 or visiting www.uk transplant.org.uk