JACK Straw is set to line up alongside Mr Spock and Lemmy from Motorhead for a new campaign to help research a cure for tinnitus.

The Foreign Secretary and Blackburn MP will pose for a portrait to be auctioned on the internet to raise money for a research charity.

And he has agreed to lobby government for scientific research cash into the ear condition he has suffered from for almost 25 years.

Action For Tinnitus Research -- campaigners for the complaint of a buzzing in the ear often caused by hearing loss or infections -- wants Mr Straw on board as a high-profile sufferer.

He was struck down with the condition in 1981 following an ear infection in his right ear when a part between the inner ear and the auditory nerve was destroyed, leaving him with no hearing except a loud hissing sound in that ear.

Former MTV Europe Producer and artist, Alan Howard, will be painting 10 one-metre square canvas portraits of famous tinnitus sufferers to raise funds for research at the University of Leicester for later in the year.

So far William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, famed for the original Star Trek series and films, and musicians Pete Townshend, from The Who, Lemmy, Paul Ryder, brother of Shaun, and Danny from Embrace have agreed.

Today Mr Straw said: "I am more than happy to pose for the portrait and do anything I can to make people aware of tinnitus.

"I will certainly lobby within government for some of the £10billion to go into research into the condition. We need to make people more aware of tinnitus and do more research into tackling it.

"Because there is no way of externally monitoring the effects of the condition, it is sometimes insultingly known as 'subjective tinnitus'. It's been a nuisance to me for years but for some sufferers it is completely debilitating. We need to do more about it."

A recent survey -- the first of its kind in 20 years -- showed that one in 10 people in East Lancashire suffer from the condition listed as the third worst of non-lethal medical conditions.

Of those, 35 per cent reported that tinnitus had a moderate effect on their lives.10 per cent of men and seven per cent of women said it had a severe to devastating impact. And 54 per cent of males and 35 per cent of females have had the head complaint for over seven years.

The Medical Research Council reported 3.3 million people across the UK have consulted their family doctor but were turned away through lack of knowledge among GPs and invariably expected to 'just put up with it'.

The survey also revealed 95 per cent felt that the NHS should spend more to boost GP knowledge.