BLOOD donors in Swindon are being asked to become lifesavers twice over.

The National Blood Service wants them to sign up as part of a national campaign by the British Bone Marrow Registry.

The next blood donor session at the County Ground on Tuesday is being used to recruit more prospective donors for the procedure which is often a last-ditch attempt to save a cancer patient's life.

NBS spokeswoman Louise Coxon said: "In cases such as leukaemia, aplastic anaemia and other diseases of the immune system, sometimes the only treatment is a bone marrow transplant from a healthy donor.

"Around 30 per cent of bone marrow patients receive their transplant from someone in their family, often a brother or a sister.

"But the other 70 per cent of patients rely on finding a match with an unrelated volunteer donor," she explained.

"However, because of the vast numbers of tissue types, trying to find a suitable match can be very difficult.

"It is therefore very important that we have a good mix of potential donors to help find a suitable match."

Local donors Rebecca Culling and David Gartside have already given someone a fighting chance of survival.

Rebecca, from Liden, donated her tissue to a young boy not long after she started working as a physiotherapist at the Great Western Hospital.

She donated through the Anthony Nolan Trust, which was set up nearly 30 years ago by a mother who lost her son. David, of Haydon Street, was on the Trust's register for 20 years before he was told his tissue was a suitable match.

He joined after reading about it in the Adver-tiser.

And three fire fighters from Drove Road fire station have also been called upon to try to save lives by giving marrow.

In two cases the recipient died and the outcome of the third isn't known.

But in each case the patient was given another chance of life.

The British Bone Marrow Registry, which is run by the National Blood Service, was formed in 1987 and works in conjunction with other UK donor registries.

It is part of Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide, an internet-based organisation with around six million registered potential donors.

Anyone wanting to sign up should be aged between 18 and 44 and be a blood donor.

Volunteers who are black, Afro-Caribbean, Asian, Chinese, Jewish, from Eastern Europe or the Mediterranean are particularly sought.

Tuesday's blood donor session runs between 1.15pm and 3.55pm.

More information is available on the NBS helpline on 08457 711 711.

Tina Clarke