THE number of students enrolling in the region's only homeopathy college has more than doubled in two years.

The Northern College of Homeopathic Medicine in Gateshead has seen a surge in enrolments.

Year one has 17 students studying part-time over four years compared to just eight students in year three.

Year two has 10 students and year four has 15.

The success of the college, which is the only one of its kind north of Leeds, highlights the resilience of this unorthodox branch of complementary medicine which came under attack earlier this year for what the leading medical journal The Lancet claimed was a 'lack of benefit' for patients.

Chris Conyers, clinical tutor at the Gateshead college, said she was "not surprised" at the results of the largest ever NHS homeopathic hospital study on Monday.

It showed that 70 per cent of patient treated with homeopathy at the Bristol Homeophatic Hospital said they had seen significant improvements in their conditions.

More than 6,500 patients took part in the study and a wide range of chronic diseases were treated including eczema, asthma, migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, menopause, arthritis, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Researchers said the most marked improvements were seen in children - 89% of under 16s with asthma reported improvement and 75% felt 'better' or 'much better', as did 68% of eczema patients under 16.

In August The Lancet published a review of 110 trials of homeopathy and found no convincing evidence that the treatment worked any better than a dummy or 'placebo' drug.

Anyone interested in seeing a trainee homeopath as part of a low cost clinic in Gateshead should contact the college on 0191 490 0276.