Dorset county councillors have been asked to do more to support victims of Motor Neurone Disease.

Dr Richard Sloane, former medical director at the Joseph Weld Hospice in Dorchester, asked the council on Thursday to support policies to help those who suffered from Motor Neurone Disease.

He said that the disease kills 30 per cent of those diagnosed within one year and 50 per cent within two years. Often help was offered too late to be of significant benefit.

He asked the council to do what it could, within its policies, to support those with a diagnosis – although he said that the condition was often missed in the early stages by professionals.

Dr Sloane said that the national association had drawn up an MND Charter which, to date, 72 local authorities had signed up to. He asked Dorset County Council to also sign the document, which he described as “a declaration of intent.”

Council leader Cllr Hilary Cox thanked him for his presentation and said the idea would be considered “in due course.”