A COUNTY Durham scheme to prevent diabetes launched less than a year ago is set to be cancelled after funding was withdrawn.

Health chiefs have written to users to express their "immense regret" that the Just Beat It! programme will not be funded beyond the end of March.

The scheme was launched last year with the aim of offering a thousand people every year the chance to change their lives and avoid developing Type 2 diabetes.

The programme sees people offered long term help with diet and high intensity exercise to reduce their chances of getting the condition.

Almost 250,000 people in the region have blood sugar levels indicating a high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, with 50,000 at risk alone in County Durham.

The Just Beat It! scheme is run by the NHS with funding from Durham County Council.

In a letter to users, Stewart Doyle, health improvement specialist with County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, said it was with immense regret that he was advising that that Durham County Council would no longer be in a position to fund the scheme after March 31, 2016.

He said he appreciated that this was very disappointing, adding: "We are continuing to explore options for continued funding but given the timescales we are confronting, we do need to prepare ourselves for the likelihood that the programme will close at the end of March.

"We are working with local organisations to find alternative programmes/sessions for you to attend so that you can continue the positive lifestyle changes that you have started to make."

Despite this letter suggesting the cancellation of the scheme was unexpected, Anna Lynch, Durham County Council’s director of public health, said in a statement on Thursday night that it was not planned to extend the scheme beyond the end of March this year.

She said: “The Just Beat It! programme was created as a local pilot scheme after County Durham was one of seven areas in the country chosen to help the development of the National Diabetes Prevention Programme during 2015/16.

“It was always the plan that Just Beat It! would close at the end of March and that the National Diabetes Prevention Programme would commence in April, commissioned by NHS England, to provide support to people identified at risk of developing diabetes.”