PEOPLE on the verge of suicide who contact the Samaritans by e-mail are having to wait for help because of the falling number of volunteers.

The Samaritan branch covering Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, has fewer staff than in 1975 and a recent increase in e-mails has forced it to launch a campaign for more volunteers.

The branch in New Park Street, Blackburn, has 80 volunteers but desperately needs another 20 to keep the 24-hour rota fully manned.

And Sally Lawless, director of the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Samaritans, said the branch was 20 volunteers short and was finalising the details regarding a recruitment drive.

She said: "We have 83 volunteers but to keep going 24 hours a day, we need at least 100.

"We are launching a campaign in the run-up to summer to recruit more members.

"I think the numbers are falling because there are more voluntary organisations today who also need staff. Especially over the last five years, the shortage of volunteers has become worse because there are not enough people who can spare time."

The North West was this month named as one of the areas with the most male suicides from 2000 to 2003, with a rate of 19.3 deaths per hundred thousand of the population, higher than the North West average of 18.

And the number of prisoners who committed suicide in the region's jails doubled, with 11 deaths in 2002 compared with five the year before.

John 13, Samaritans cannot give their surnames, from the Blackburn branch, said: "We are the last point of call to people who are desperate and people e-mail us telling us they are going to kill themselves. We need more staff to ensure we can get to help all of these people immediately.

"At the moment we are spread more thinly and can fall behind in a quick response which is vital. We need more help now."