MEN in West Yorkshire are being urged to match women in becoming blood donors.

New figures today reveal more than twice as many women as men in West Yorkshire became New Year blood donors in 2018.

Mike Stredder, from NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “It’s vital that more men start donating blood because their blood is used to provide life-saving products like plasma and platelets – to save victims of burns, car crashes and treat to patients with cancer.

"We’re incredibly grateful to all our female donors in Bradford who are vital in providing lifesaving blood to those in need.

"But we need men to catch up with recent recruitment because their blood can have different characteristics which can make it important in certain situations."

There are almost 31,000 active blood donors in West Yorkshire – and 4,405 of these currently give blood at Bradford donor centre.

More than 200,000 new donors are needed to give blood every year across England, to replace those who can no longer donate regularly due to things like ill health, foreign travel or pregnancy.

Call 0300 123 23 23, use the GiveBlood app, or visit www.blood.co.uk.