PATIENTS in the North-East are to be among the first in the UK to be offered diabetes screening.

The aim of the £1.4m scheme is to speed up diagnosis and treatment for people at risk of getting diabetes and reduce the number who go on to develop complications from the condition.

The pilots will be in Sunderland, Liverpool, Bradford, Leicester, Haringey, Portsmouth, Coventry, Bristol and Luton.

People who are overweight, aged over 40, have heart disease or have had a stroke are most at risk of developing Type Two diabetes.

Those in this category in the nine pilot areas will be offered screening to test their blood sugar levels.

It is hoped the scheme will identify the estimated one million people in the UK who are unaware that they have Type Two diabetes.

Health Minister David Lammy announced the pilots while visiting a diabetes clinic in London.

He said: "It is important that people at risk of developing the disease are identified before they develop symptoms, and suffer poor quality of life."

Sunderland GP Dr Henry Choi said: "This could be the beginning of the first national screening programme of its type in the world."

Dr Choi said three practices on Wearside would take part, with the aim of screening 90 per cent of patients in the target groups.

Diabetes is a condition where blood glucose levels are too high and the body cannot convert starchy and sugary foods into energy.

* Dr Sue Roberts, a consultant at the Diabetes Resource Centre of Northumbria Healthcare Trust, has been appointed national clinical director for diabetes.