ASTHMA services in Darlington are to get a boost to help the thousands of people who suffer from the condition.

Asthma affects more than 6,000 adults and countless children in the town and is on the increase, prompting the town's health services to launch a programme to raise awareness and help sufferers.

Emergency asthma-related admissions to hospital in Darlington are higher than the national average, and more than half of them are for sufferers aged under 15.

In the most severe cases the respiratory condition can be fatal.

Darlington Primary Care Trust (PCT) is spearheading work which will help people live with the condition, manage the symptoms, and seek medical attention before the attacks become serious.

Schoolchildren are to be targeted and awareness raised among teachers through the PCT's school nurses.

The initiative has the support of Asthma UK, which has provided £15,000 to raise awareness of the condition.

Elizabeth Graham, head of primary care development at the PCT, said: "People with asthma tend to be young and fit and don't want to trouble their doctor when it starts to creep up on them.

"Then when they have an attack and can't breathe, they end up having to go to A&E."

She said asthma could be managed and controlled but people needed educating in how best to do that.

"We need to teach people a self-management plan to prevent them getting to the stage where they panic and call an ambulance," she said.

Mrs Graham added that the trust wanted to address the problem of patients who stop talking medication too early, as soon as they felt better, causing their asthma to return,

She also urged sufferers not to ignore early warning signs such as coughing and wheezing.

Nurses will be working in schools to educate pupils and staff.

Mrs Graham said: "We have found that many children with asthma often miss out on activities because the teachers are worried they might have an attack."

A special pack has been prepared and asthma will figure in an Every Child Matters school initiative due to be launched by Darlington Borough Council in January, along with a town-wide peer support group.