A multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferer who feared that the health service was going to withdraw her complementary therapy has been told it can continue.

Jane Hope, 36, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, has been having regular acupuncture on the NHS for more than 12 years.

Recently, she heard from her GP that Durham Dales Primary Care Trust, the organisation which funds NHS treatment in the Bishop Auckland area, was considering withdrawing funding.

Mrs Hope, who walks with a stick and has to use a wheelchair to travel any distance, was horrified and wrote to the care trust, asking it to continue with funding.

"I have always found acupuncture to be excellent, it has allowed me to have a better quality of life and helped with my symptoms," she said.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the trust confirmed that the treatment could continue.

However, it has been made clear that the issue of funding is being kept under review.

Recently, an independent report commissioned by the Prince of Wales concluded that the NHS should fund more complementary medicine because of the widespread benefits for patients.

But many health service doctors believe there is little or no evidence of the effectiveness of complementary treatment.

In Mrs Hope's case, it was her local GP who referred her to an acupuncturist.

She found immediately that the traditional Chinese therapy helped with the symptoms of MS, an incurable, progressive neurological disease.

For eight years she has had regular treatment from Keith Thomas, a fully-trained, traditional practitioner who studied acupuncture in China.

A Durham Dales PCT spokeswoman said: "The funding is available but they are continuing to keep the issue under review."

She said that the issue had been resolved after the involvement of the trust's Patient Advice and Liaison Service.