A MAYOR has urged a town's residents to give someone the promise of life.

More than 7,200 people across the UK are waiting for life-saving organ donations.

Ray Mallon, Mayor of Middlesbrough, said: "This is one of those issues which perhaps no one likes to think of, or discuss, but which is vitally important to the health of the nation.''

More than 11.4m people are on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

Just over five million men are listed although statistics show that men are 34 per cent likelier to need a transplant than women.

A week-long programme of events has been organised on Teesside to encourage people to sign up to the register.

Mr Mallon said: "I hope that during this week, people in Middlesbrough and the South Tees area will think carefully about the importance of transplants and organ donation.

"I would make a special appeal to men in the area to think about this issue.

"Men make up less than half the people on the donor register, yet are far more likely to need a transplant. With the increasing awareness of men's health issues, this is something we should take seriously.''

This week's campaign is co-ordinated by South Tees Hospitals NHS trust, backed by Middlesbrough Football Club.

Tracey Ryder, a senior sister in the intensive care unit at the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, said: "Last year, there were 2,800 transplants nationwide, operations which saved people's lives or gave them back a quality of life they thought they had lost forever.''