A YOUNG woman with multiple sclerosis who depends on acupuncture to ease her symptoms has spoken out after the NHS threatened to withdraw funding.

For more than 12 years, Jane Hope, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, has been having regular acupuncture treatment on the NHS.

Mrs Hope, 36, says the traditional Chinese therapy helps makes life more bearable.

"Acupuncture is excellent - it allows me to have a better quality of life," she said.

But now she has been told that Durham Dales Primary Care Trust (PCT), which funds NHS treatment in the Bishop Auckland area, is considering withdrawing funding.

Mrs Hope, who walks with a stick and has to use a wheelchair to travel any distance, was devastated when her GP told her of the funding threat.

"My GP has been brilliant - she was the one who referred me, and every few years she has written a letter asking for the funding to continue," said Mrs Hope.

The first she knew about the situation was when her doctor asked her to come in to discuss the future of her treatment - then broke the news that funding for her acupuncture therapy was likely to be discontinued.

Mrs Hope has written to the PCT asking officials to allow her therapy to continue on the NHS.

As a possible alternative, she has been told she could continue to see a physiotherapist who has had some acupuncture training.

But Mrs Hope wants a fully-trained, full-time acupuncturist.

"I have been seeing Keith Thomas, my acupuncturist for eight years, and he is excellent. I have been told I could see a physiotherapist who does some acupuncture, but it would not be the same as a fully-qualified acupuncturist," she said.

Her father, Trevor Shaw, said it was "staggering" that anyone should want to take away therapy which had done so much good.

Mr Thomas, an experienced, fully-qualified acupuncturist who has trained in China, said the prospect of losing funding was very disappointing, particularly in view of a major report published this week which suggests that the wider use of complementary therapies on the NHS would save the country millions.

A spokeswoman for the PCT said: "The treatment is continuing until further evidence is received. The situation is going to be reviewed."