NORTH-East agony aunt Denise Robertson is backing an osteoporosis campaign.

The TV personality joined County Durham women Joan McArthur, Joan Stephinson, and Elaine Osborne, who suffer from the condition, and life-size mannequins depicting stages of it, at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital.

The campaign, developed by the National Osteoporosis Society and Merck Sharp and Dohme, is supported by the Doctor Patient Partnership, to raise public awareness.

New research reveals that 96 per cent of North-East women are unaware of the likelihood of developing osteoporosis. One in three women over 50 will have an osteoporotic fracture.

Linda Edwards, director of the National Osteoporosis Society, said: "This campaign is targeted at women over 60 who have already experienced a fracture, since they are a very high-risk group.