LESS than half of people in Dorset are registered as organ donors although dozens of people in the county are waiting for a vital transplant.

Hundreds of people in the county have benefited from transplants and the number of people signed-up to donate organs has risen.

However, there is still a shortage of donors with thousands of people on waiting lists across thr country.

Just under half of the Dorset population is registered as organ donors although the figure in Weymouth and Portland is less than a third.

Of the county’s local authority areas, West Dorset has the highest percentage of registered organ donors (58 per cent) followed by Purbeck at 49 per cent.

Meanwhile 85 Dorset residents are on the waiting list for a transplant with almost a quarter (20) of them living in Bournemouth.

Last year a memorial was installed at Royal Bournemouth Hospital honouring donors and their families.

Through Organ Donation Week, which started on Monday, the interim director of organ donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, Anthony Clarkson, has called for more people to sign-up as donors.

“As an individual who believes in organ donation you need to make sure that you join the NHS Organ Donor Register and tell your family your wishes,” he said.

“We all know that organ donation legislation will change in England and Scotland in future years but the harsh fact is people are dying right now waiting for an organ and it will still be important for people to know your decision.

“Please act on your belief in organ donation, share your wishes and find out what your loved ones would want for themselves.

“Only by sharing our views can we make it easier for our families should the time ever come.”

The local authority area in the UK with the lowest proportion of people registered as organ donors is Barking and Dagenham in London at less than 16 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, 71 per cent of people in South Hams in Devon have signed-up.

Over the next two years, England and Scotland will introduce an opt-out organ donor registration system following in Wales’ footsteps.

It is hoped that the change will increase the number of organs being donated.