CHILDLESS families in County Durham could have a private fertility clinic on their doorstep, if plans get the green light.

The Cromwell in-vitro fertilisation centre in London is thinking about setting up a unit at Darlington's private Woodlands Hospital at Morton Park.

The applicant is Dr Kamal Ahuja, who is director of the IVF programme at Washington Hospital in the North-East.

It pioneered an egg-sharing programme, which has been copied worldwide. Donor couples receive free treatment while giving half their eggs to help another couple overcome childlessness.

The director also welcomed the lifting of the ban on freezing eggs, allowing busy career women to postpone motherhood until they were ready.

Dr Ahuja told the D&S Times: "We have been part of the IVF scene in the UK for a long time and we have a good presence at Washington."

He would be glad to talk about the service once he had approval for a hospital extension and a licence from the IVF programme's regulatory body.

Dr Ahuja has asked the Swansea WHS Trust, which has a Cromwell IVF clinic in its Singleton Hospital, to design plans for the Darlington clinic.

Adrian Miller, planning officer with Darlington Borough Council, said there had been a site meeting with the contractors a couple of weeks ago. The proposal was for a side extension to provide a waiting room.

The hospital issued a statement saying it was having talks about the project and both parties hoped to make an announcement in the summer.

South Durham NHS Trust provides IVF treatment at its Bishop Auckland and Darlington hospitals and a spokesman said the trust was committed to reducing the maximum wait for couples to two years by March 2003