CAMPAIGNERS fighting for better services for kidney patients say they're "over the moon" after Poole councillors gave the go-ahead to a new special care unit.

Volunteers from the Dorset Kidney Fund had feared the proposed centre at Manning's Heath was doomed after planning officers said the bid should be rejected.

But councillors on the planning committee went against the advice of their officers and voted overwhelmingly to support the new centre.

Eileen Jacobsen from the Dorset Kidney Fund said: "It's absolutely wonderful. We're over the moon about this.

"We were so upset when we were told the centre might not go ahead, as we thought it would be up and running within the next couple of years.

"We are so very, very pleased with the verdict. Now, people will not have to travel so far to get treatment."

More than 200 people in Dorset require treatment on kidney dialysis machines at least three times a week for up to three to four hours at a time.

But many sufferers living in the conurbation have to travel as far away as Dorchester or even Yeovil to be treated because there is so much demand for the nearest care unit in Bournemouth.

Fresenius Medical Care Renal Services Ltd applied to build a 10-bed care centre on the Manning's Heath industrial estate, which would provide renal dialysis for up to 40 seriously ill patients from the area.

But officers at the Borough of Poole recommended the planning committee refuse the application because it could affect local employment, although campaigners said the centre would provide between 20 and 30 full-time jobs.

Deputy leader of Poole Council and vice chair of the planning Cllr Ann Stribley said: "We voted to approved these plans because we felt this centre would be of over-riding benefit to the community and because it does also provide employment."

Officers had warned that the land was reserved under the local plan for employment purposes and said that giving the green light to the medical centre could set a precedent for further loss of employment land.