The founder of a transplant support network is calling on all local authorities - including Bradford - to invite every householder to become an organ donor.

Phil Hatton, who runs the Transplant Support Network, which he established with his late wife Jo, who had a new heart and lung, wants donor forms to land on the doorsteps with the annual electors' forms.

A similar scheme was this week adopted by Craven council for its 24,000 households following a request by kidney patient Christine Barrows, of Skipton, who is awaiting a transplant.

Only one other authority in the country, Taunton Deane, in Somerset, has organised such a scheme. Within two weeks of the launch, 11,000 people had agreed to become donors.

Mr Hatton, of Keighley, said: "In our newsletter, which goes out to members throughout the country, I will be urging them to contact their local authorities with the same idea. I think its an excellent way of reaching people and very economical."

He said there was a general poor take up throughout the whole of the UK but it was a particular problem among the Asian community, where donor card carrying was particularly low.

"There is nothing in the religion that says organs can't be donated, it is a cultural thing. They are just reluctant to confront the idea," said Mr Hatton.

He added that it was particularly important because organ matching was much more successful between similar ethnic groups.

Bradford council Tory leader Margaret Eaton said a similar scheme was being considered. My colleague Cllr Richard Wightman and I have spoken to Cllr John Meikle, of Taunton Deane council, about this issue and we would like to embrace the idea.

"Some people are not comfortable with the idea of organ donation but this method allows people to ignore it or it triggers the minds of people who have been thinking about becoming donors."

Craven councillor Ken Hart, whose 57-year-old wife, Kathleen, had a kidney transplant 27 years ago, said: "We are burning and burying too many organs which should be used to transform people's lives. A transplant can make an enormous difference."

Statistics kept by the UK Transplant Support Service Association reveal that so far this year in the UK 1,373 people have received an organ transplant and there have been 443 donors. There are 5,556 people waiting for a transplant.

The UKTSSA keeps a databank of donors and recipients, matches, and allocates organs, maintains a waiting list and monitors the outcome of transplants.