Biker Dave Sammons, 25, recently moved to Preston from near Oxford and is in the process of setting up a North West version of a charity which delivers blood products to accident and emergency units at night, free of charge.

The organisation will save the NHS thousands of pounds which they would have spent on taxi and courier fees.

SERV – Service By Emergency Rider Volunteers – started in the South East of England 26 years ago and was confined to Sussex, Surrey and Kent until 2005 when Dave started a group covering Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire.

Also known as the "Blood Runners," the service is manned by volunteers who give up their time, petrol and sleep to transport emergency blood supplies at night.

The aim of the charity is to provide a free out-of-hours service to transport blood, blood samples and other urgent medical items for NHS hospitals.

Dave, who works for a contractor for United Utilities, said: "With my recent move to Preston from Oxfordshire, I now intend to set up a local group of SERV to cover the 21 hospitals in Lancashire, Merseyside and Manchester.

"We will operate with three riders on call each night and a volunteer manning the phones and controlling the operation.

"I have spoken to hospitals across the area and they are very keen to start using the service and have got around 30 volunteers on board which I am hoping to double."

If you are interested in volunteering or sponsoring the charity scheme, call Dave on 07017 030504 or e-mail: development@serv.org.uk