AN osteopath is looking to attract schoolchildren into the profession to try to alleviate a countywide shortage.

Kerry I'Anson has owned Darwen Osteopathic Clinic on The Green for more than four years and is now moving to larger premises in Church Street to accommodate the growing number of patients.

The only problem is, there are not enough osteopaths to treat them, and Kerry finds herself working until 7pm each night.

She said the problem was that people just hadn't heard about osteopathy - healing based on the manipulation of bones and other parts of the body - and if they did want to train, then all the facilities were in London.

"Then when people go down they don't come back up again because they get paid more down south," she said.

The clinic, with only one treatment room, currently has 1,200 patients on the register and is used by a wide variety of people from footballers to elderly people who suffer from arthritis.

Kerry and her practice partner, Alex Klawunde, see an average of ten new patients each week.

Osteopathy is not currently provided on the NHS.

Kerry, who qualified at the British School of Osteopathy in London, added: "We want to go into schools and explain what we do.

"By encouraging children to take up the profession, I think we can improve the situation."