Health bosses are to offer NHS-funded IVF treatment in Bradford for the first time.

The three Bradford Primary Care Trusts, which commission services for their patients from the district's hospitals, have allocated funding for a one-year pilot scheme starting in September.

Previously, couples desperate for children have had to pay for their own treatment at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust which runs a self-funding IVF service. Fees can often run into thousands of pounds.

By coincidence the decision to offer NHS-funded treatment comes on the eve of tomorrow's 25th anniversary of the birth of the Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby.

Dr Peter Rennie, chairman of the PCTs' Joint Local Clinical Priorities Group, said: "The decision to put some NHS funds into a pilot for this kind of treatment is good news for Bradford.

"We have spent a lot of time looking at the resources which can be made available for a pilot scheme and how we can apply those fairly to allow some women needing this kind of treatment to get help funded by the NHS."

Lesley Sterling-Baxter, former chief officer of Bradford CHC and now director of patient empowerment and consumer development at North Bradford PCT, also welcomed the move.

"Even though this pilot service is limited, there is no doubt it is excellent news for patients.

"CHC members have campaigned for this development for many years and it is excellent that the primary care trusts have now been able to make this first step."

Faye Bodiam, of Queensbury, said she thought the pilot scheme was "fantastic".

She and her husband David had their daughter Amy, now two, through IVF treatment.

She said: "I think it's absolutely fantastic because it would give people who could not necessarily afford to try the chance to do it, because it's very expensive.

"Every little bit which can be given to help people is wonderful."

The couple paid about £2,000 for one cycle of IVF, though Mrs Bodiam's GP funded the drugs she had to take.

A report to Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says the three trusts have allocated £100,000 for the pilot scheme.

Strict criteria have been established for admission to the scheme which include that women must be aged between 30 and 35, have a Body Mass Index of less than 30 and neither partner can have any children in an existing or previous relationship.

There must also be evidence of a supportive relationship and only one cycle of treatment would be funded per patient.

The report estimates 38 treatment cycles could be funded at an average cost of £2,632 per cycle.

However, this may not be achieved because of a lack of availability for the treatment at the Assisted Conception Unit at Leeds General Infirmary.

A spokesman for Airedale Primary Care Trust said it runs a similar IVF service through Airedale General Hospital at Steeton.

"We have been involved in all the discussions surrounding this pilot scheme and have adopted the same inclusion criteria for its patients requiring assisted conception.

"This means that by September a comparable service will be available across all four Bradford Primary Care Trusts."

Bradford's fertility clinic at Bradford Royal Infirmary, run by obstetrician and gynaecologist Ian Beck and unit manager Anne Balson, opened in 2000.

The satellite unit offers most of the IVF treatment apart from collection and implanting of eggs, which is done at Leeds. Previously couples had to pay for the treatment, though in some cases their GP paid for the necessary drugs.