A drug which improves the lives of cerebral palsy sufferers should be available to all children who need it, a charity says.

The availability of the treatment currently depends on where children live in the UK, says the charity Scope, which claims those living near regional specialist paediatric and orthopaedic centres get top quality care, while others suffer.

It is calling for a drug called botulinum toxin, which can help children with the disabling condition to walk for the first time, to be available nation-wide.

The drug is injected directly into affected muscles, partially blocking the nervous system.

A course of treatment lasts for weeks or months.

The drug is most effective when combined with physiotherapy and splinting. It works by reducing rigidity in muscles and lowers or defers the need for surgery to correct deformities.

One in every 400 babies born in the UK will develop cerebral palsy and 1,500 children are affected each year in the UK.

Safe and effective

Richard Parnell, research manager at Scope, said: "We welcome the development of safe and effective new treatments for children with cerebral palsy that will improve the quality of their lives.

"Such treatment should be available to all those who need it regardless of where they live."

Mr Aiden Cosgrove, a consultant surgeon at Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast, said: "As children with cerebral palsy get older, surgery is often required in order to correct deformities.

"The use of botulinum toxin may help to defer or reduce the extent of this surgery."

Angie McCormack's five-year-old daughter Rebecca has started receiving the treatment after being referred to a hospital outside her home town of Huddersfield, where it is not available.

She said it had dramatically improved the quality of her daughter's life.

Mrs McCormack said: "It should be made available and the information should get through to the people who need it - not just health professionals but parents as well."