A BID to raise £35,000 to provide a hospital with an eye laser has been so successful it has sparked a more ambitious project.

This week is National Diabetes Week and work has just begun on securing a second major piece of specialist eye equipment for Bishop Auckland General Hospital, after an appeal to raise £35,000 for a diabetic eye-laser overshot its target by about £12,000.

The laser has been installed at the hospital, meaning Wear Valley patients no longer have to travel to Darlington's Memorial Hospital for eye laser treatments, and patient waiting times for laser therapy will be slashed.

Joyce Short, from the Bishop Auckland branch of Diabetes UK, said it was especially good news for people who live in remote areas, such as Weardale, who found it difficult to get to Darlington for treatment.

Inspired by the success of the laser appeal, consultants at Bishop Auckland Hospital and Darlington Memorial Hospital have now launched a Save Our Sight campaign (SOS) to purchase a £60,000 digital retina camera.

Consultant physician at Bishop Auckland General Hospital, Dr Alan McCulloch, said: "You often find funds come in for a long time after the appeal has closed, as events like golf tournaments are still taking place because they were organised last year.

"So with the extra money coming in for the diabetic eye-laser we have launched another appeal to buy a digital retina camera."

The equipment diagnoses problems by photographing the retina. Images can be electronically mailed to GPs, or quickly forwarded to consultants for a second opinion.

In South Durham, there are an estimated 10,000 people suffering diabetes and about a third will have diabetic retinopathy, the commonest cause of blindness in people of working age.

Dr McCulloch said it is important people with diabetes have their eyes examined and tested once a year.