THE TAVISTOCK supporters of Derriford kidney transplant unit, which is currently facing closure, will be tossing pancakes next week to help keep the unit open.

Jennifer Venning is organising the event on Shrove Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, next week at the Brentor Church hall. She said they hoped to raise about £140.

'I do it every year to raise money for the unit,' she said, 'but this year it's more important.'

Supporters fear the unit, which carried out 50 life-saving operations last year, faces closure after a controversial report by the Royal College of Surgeons. The report said the South West should only have one transplant unit because the region's population was too small to support both the larger Bristol unit and the one in Plymouth and because of a shortage of transplant surgeons.

Mrs Venning explained that a population of 2 million people was required to justify each unit and the report suggested the population of the South West was 3.6 million and could therefore only support the Bristol unit.

'But they forgot to add Wiltshire,' she said, 'which would bring the total to 4.7 million people.'

Derriford's unit has been in operation for 21 years and has developed a high level of expertise. Mrs Venning said many people from all over West Devon and East Cornwall had been treated there. She said the unit in Plymouth was vital so that people from as far away as Cornwall would not have to travel all the way to Bristol.

'The after-care is just as important as the operation,' she said. 'you need treatment for the rest of your life.'

The fight to save the unit is gaining support and campaigners are expecting hundreds of people at a public meeting the following week on February 22 at 7pm.

The venue for the meeting has been changed to the drama theatre of St Mark and St John to accommodate the large numbers of people expected to attend.

Campaigners will also be collecting signatures for a petition to Health Secretary Frank Dobson. Anyone wishing to add their name may do so at most shops in Tavistock and the surrounding area or at the renal unit this week on level 7 between 9am and 6pm.

The pancake evening starts at 6.45pm February 16 at Brentor Church hall, everyone is welcome.