KIND-hearted volunteers who take patients to hospital and doctors' surgeries for appointments have been praised for their efforts after logging 7,000 trips.

Former policemen Ken Saxby and Geoff Moody run the Driver Support Scheme in Teesdale, for people who would otherwise have difficulty travelling for medical treatment.

Mr Saxby, who was a police constable for 30 years before he retired, has eight volunteer drivers covering the upper dale, where there are 3,000 patients on the doctors' books.

Mr Moody, who was a PC for 26 years, has 23 drivers to cover Barnard Castle and the central dale, where there are about 10,000 registered patients.

Volunteers ferry mainly elderly men and women to hospitals in Darlington, Bishop Auckland and Middlesbrough, and wait until their treatment is finished before taking them home.

They also drive people from villages or remote farms to surgeries in Barnard Castle and Middleton.

Nan Hamilton, a pensioner who lives in Cotherstone, described their work as "a fantastic service".

"I don't know how we would manage without it," said Mrs Hamilton.

"The drivers are all fabulous folk, helpful and kind, and the two men who run it are superb. Nothing is too much trouble for them."

One of the local GPs at Middleton, Dr Jonathan Nainby-Luxmoore, said: "This is an invaluable service.

"It is wonderful for elderly people, but also for younger ones who have no transport or are less mobile."

The service is funded by the Countryside Agency, and volunteers are paid 40p a mile expenses.

It is free to patients, but they can give a donation to running costs if they wish.

The scheme is part of a national group called the Retired Senior Volunteer Programme.