SCIENTISTS in the North-East hope to be given the go- ahead this week to allow them to create the first cloned human embryo in Britain.

The Newcastle University team, based at the city's Centre for Life, plans to develop dozens of cloned embryos using similar techniques employed by the scientists who created Dolly the Sheep.

Despite opposition from religious and anti-abortion groups, research leader Dr Mlodrag Stojkovic believes the development could help to treat diabetes or find cures for debilitating diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

"This is a great opportunity. Our intention is not to create cloned humans, but to save lives," said Dr Stojkovic.

The application to carry out human cloning may go before the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the authority said last night: "The application by the Newcastle team has undergone what we call a peer review to see if it has the correct methodology, using the correct materials and other considerations.

"It is now awaiting a hearing by the licensing authority.

"It could be on the agenda for Wednesday's meeting, but that agenda has not been drawn up yet, so we'll have to wait and see."

Cloning human embryos for therapeutic research was made legal by an amendment to the Human Embryology Act, but it remains illegal for reproductive purposes.

The first human embryo was cloned in South Korea in February.