THREE badly injured Libyans are being treated in the North-East for gunshot wounds.

The Libyan civilians, whose injuries are said to be "complex" and include gunshot and shrapnel wounds, arrived in the UK on Monday and were transferred by ambulance to the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

The men are now being assessed by various specialists at the Teesside hospital.

The South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs James Cook University Hospital along with The Friarage Hospital in Northallerton, was one of a small number of hospitals nationally to be approached by the Department of Health after an approach by the new Libyan Government.

The Libyans asked the NHS to provide care for 50 civilian patients who have been injured as a result of the recent conflict.

Patients started to arrive in the country on Monday and will receive specialised advanced surgery and rehabilitation in the NHS.

Full story in tomorrow's The Northern Echo