MARTIN Ravenscroft is a man on an education mission to try to stamp out the so-called superbug which killed his brother.

He has been to both Blackburn Royal Infirmary and Queen's Park Hospital with copies of articles about MRSA, put them on noticeboards and handed them to staff.

He is motivated by what happened to his brother who went into hospital for a routine operation to treat an ulcer in his intestine but died nine days later having apparently contracted MRSA.

In the four years between 1999 and 2003 official figures showed deaths in this country from MRSA doubled.

Nationwide concern focussed attention on hospital wards and campaigns were launched to highlight the importance of hygiene amongst staff at all levels from cleaners to consultants.

Many theories were put forward about why this country seemed to have such a high number of deaths caused by the bug compared to elsewhere in Europe including claims that cost-cutting had allowed cleanliness standards to slip.

It's easy to understand the anger and frustration felt by relatives of people who died of MRSA after being admitted for straightforward procedures.

Mr Ravenscroft's efforts to increase awareness of how we can combat this deadly scourge deserve the wholehearted support of everyone.