Two North East men are continuing their good recovery after a rare friend-to-friend kidney transplant.

Derek Marshall and Bill Brough, from Teesside, underwent the seven-hour operation at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital on Wednesday.

Mr Marshall, 56, offered one of his kidneys to his best friend Mr Brough who had suffered renal failure.

Speaking on the BBC Breakfast programme on Friday, Mr Brough said: "I am feeling the best I have felt for 14 months since I first got ill with kidney failure - I feel like a new man.

Seeing Bill today shows the end result was all worth it Kidney donor Derek Marshall

"It is the most wonderful, gracious, gift that someone could give to another human being.

"It has put a new slant on the expression blood brothers."

He said he and Mr Marshall were next door neighbours as children, went to primary school together, and have been close friends ever since.

Mr Brough now faces another nine days in hospital, for treatment in case there is any rejection of the kidney.

And he praised the health care he had received in Teesside and at the Freeman Hospital, while urging the public to consider giving a kidney for transplant.

Kidney offered

Kidney donor Mr Marshall can leave hospital on Friday evening or remain for another night.

He said: "I am mobile I am doing a bit of walking round - I am really surprised at how well I feel.

"About six seven months into Bill's illness we had a discussion with his consultant and I offered myself for testing.

"Seeing Bill today shows the end result was all worth it. There were worries and concerns but they give you all the information you need."

Mr Brough had been unable to find a donor match from his own family.

Legionnaire's disease

Surgeons used advanced keyhole surgery equipment to remove one of Mr Marshall's healthy kidneys, leaving a relatively small exit wound.

The organ was then inserted into a cavity at the top of Mr Brough's legs and connected to his arteries, veins and bladder.

The two men have known each other since they were both pupils at Whinney Banks Primary School in Middlesbrough.

Mr Brough, who runs a shipping company, contracted Legionnaire's Disease on a trip to Mexico in 2001, and although he survived the potentially fatal bug, he was left with kidney failure.