A Hartlepool doctor has joined forces with a surgeon to ease the suffering of deformed patients in his Asian homeland.

Dr Manmatha Roy, a consultant anaesthetist at the University Hospital of Hartlepool, joined plastic surgeons on a mercy mission to Bangladesh.

He worked alongside former Middlesbrough General Hospital surgeon Dr Charles Viva.

During the two-week voluntary trip, Dr Roy provided anaesthetic cover for 71 operations on patients suffering from a range of disfigurements including burns victims and children with cleft palates.

The team took their own equipment to make the best use of the theatre and nine beds they were given at Noorjahan General Hospital, a private hospital in Dr Roy's home town of Sylhet.

He was born and grew up there, before moving to the UK in 1971 following the country's war with Pakistan.

A year later he joined what is now Hartlepool's University Hospital as a senior house officer.

He said: "Hospitals in Bangladesh are largely limited to emergency patients and because of the high levels of poverty, people are unable to pay for private care.

"I was delighted to offer my services and be able to make such a huge difference to so many people's lives."