IF YA divvent kna yer heed from yer hunkers then spare a thought for the foreign doctors being recruited into former North-East mining communities.

Colloquial speech may well be understood among the natives of east Durham but for new medical arrivals it's all a bit double Dutch.

But there is "leet" at the end of the tunnel as the doctors are soon to be put in the "pitcher" with the compilation of a handbook that explains the many much-used local phrases for patients "feelin' femmer".

Patients' multiple maladies from "I keep hoyin up" to "A've got a gammy leg" are to be translated into a "larn yersel" dialect book for foreign doctors.

In a run-up to the publication, a consultation day was held yesterday, when residents from east Durham villages left "yam" to visit Shotton Hall, Peterlee, to pass on their local knowledge.

And there was no shortage of input - from "had on a bit, I'm not feelin a full shullin" to "the bairn's bad from eatin a load of ket."

There were dozens of home- grown anatomical words thrown in for good measure, from nebb (nose) and gob (mouth) to oxter (armpit) and kite (belly) and participants were invited to attach stickers to two life-size dummy identifying the dialect body parts.

The exercise was devised by Easington Primary Care Trust (PCT) and is being supervised by project director Linda van Swanenberg who, despite her married name, is local born and bred.

The PCT launched what it named "The Big Project" last year to attract foreign doctors because of a shortage of GPs in the district.

Mrs van Swanenberg said: "We hope the finished dialect guide will help these new doctors settle into the area and help them to provide the best possible service for our patients."

The latest recruit is Dr Maria Vehlein, from Frankfurt, Germany, who has taken up one of the new posts.

Attending the consultation yesterday, she admitted that, although she speaks perfect English, she was somewhat thrown at first by the local vernacular, but added: "My favourite word now is bairn."

With a growing glossary of local words at hand, the PCT hopes to produce the dialect booklet later this year, when it will be distributed to all practices in the district.

* Kindly take a look at me doctor, I'm distinctly unsteady on my feet