A VITAL blood transport service is struggling to keep up with demand from the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General hospitals, and has issued an urgent appeal for volunteers.

The North West Blood Bikes charity needs about 40 motorcyclists to make their service sustainable in East Lancashire, but currently has about 20.

The bikers transport blood samples, medical equipment and records between the hospital sites at weekends, and from 7pm to 2am on week-nights, when the hospitals’ in-house service does not operate.

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Paul Brooks, chairman of the Lancs and Lakes division, said the charity has been relying on the ‘amazing goodwill’ of the 20 riders to keep the service running, but more people are needed.

He said: “The east of the county is our busiest area but we have struggled to recruit there. The guys who are doing it are doing more than we’d like them to do and we want to relieve them a bit. We can sometimes bring people in from the central Lancs to cover, but there’s often a turnaround issue when clinicians need the results as soon as, so it really needs someone who is already in the area.”

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust began using the service last year, saying it would save the pathology department about £20,000 per year, by cutting the use of out-of-hours taxis.

Riders can use their own bikes, but need to have held a licence for at least a year.

Neil Demaline, the charity’s area manager for East Lancashire, said: “ Most of the riders are like vampires, quietly doing their job, in the darkness of night, while everyone is tucked up safely in bed.”