A LEADING Scottish cancer specialist has praised a new drug that is helping to prolong the lives of many of her patients, but which is not available in England.

Dr Marianne Nicolson, a consultant oncologist at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, said it was regrettable that new drug, Tarceva, was not available on the NHS in England.

It follows a difference of opinion between drugs watchdogs that vet new medication on either side of the border.

It means that English lung cancer patients, such as Dave Hill, 45, from Darlington, are having to pay £1,700 a month to fund the drug privately.

Dr Nicolson said she had no doubt that Tarceva helped many advanced lung cancer patients.

The consultant, who is attending an international lung cancer conference in South Korea, said: "It is difficult to see how a drug that is clinically acceptable for use in Scotland should be rejected in England."

Her comments followed the launch of a campaign by The Northern Echo that aims to highlight the difficulties faced by patients across the North-East and North Yorkshire when faced with so-called postcode rationing.

The newspaper has highlighted the case of Richmond kidney cancer patient Barbara Selby.

Mrs Selby cannot get access to a fully licensed new drug called Sutent on the NHS because she lives in North Yorkshire and her local primary care trust has so far declined to fund it.

After articles in The Northern Echo, the North-East and Cumbria Cancer Drug Approvals Group recently decided to fund Sutent. However, it does not help Mrs Selby, who lives seven miles outside the area covered by the group's advice.

On Monday, The Northern Echo also featured the story of former builder Mr Hill, a 45-year-old father-of-four and step-father-of-three.

His cancer specialist wants to prescribe Tarceva on the NHS, but because the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has issued provisional guidance that use of Tarceva is not cost-effective, he will have to find more than £1,700 a month.

A fundraising campaign, headed by images of his six-year-old daughter, Chantelle, is under way.