ANOTHER good year at the North-East's organ transplant centre has helped break national records.

Figures from UK Transplant show an increase in the number of people who had lifesaving transplants during the past financial year.

By the end of March, 2,863 transplants were carried out during 2003/2004, with 1,845 people benefiting from kidney transplants, almost 700 people receiving new livers and more than 300 having heart or lung transplants.

A five per cent increase in the number of donors has helped transplant teams up and down the country do better than ever.

A quarter of kidney transplants were from a living donor, who gave a kidney to a member of their family or a friend.

This included Derek Marshall, from Teesside.

Mr Marshall, 57, from Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, donated one of his kidneys to help lifelong friend Bill Brough, 55, from Great Ayton, in December 2002.

Julie Robson, a transplant co-ordinator at The Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, said the Teesside pair were among about 110 successful kidney operations that were carried out at the centre last year.

The Freeman transplant teams also carried out about 80 heart, lung and combined heart-and-lung tranplants and about 40 liver operations during the same period.

While transplant teams are celebrating across the UK, Miss Robson said too many people were still waiting for a transplant and that too many organs were being wasted because of a reluctance among North-East families to discuss organ donation before death.

She said: "There is still a real issue here.

"We have to get the message across that people need to let their families know if they want to donate their organs.

"People need to get on the national register and discuss it with their next-of-kin."

She said it was devastating for people waiting for organs that so many relatives -42 per cent last year -declined to allow organs to be transplanted.

The Freeman Hospital remains one of the best performing transplant centres in the UK, and the team is hoping to build on its success next year.

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register, call the organ donor line on 0845 606 0400.

Alternatively, go to www. uktransplant.org.uk and sign up to the register.