STAFF at Winterbourne Hospital near Dorchester are celebrating today after it was highlighted as one of the most successful in vitro fertilisation centres in the country.

Last year 28.6 per cent of women under 38 gave birth at the hospital compared with a national average of only 22.1 per cent.

And Winterbourne's strong performance has seen it ranked eighth in the country out of more than 60 similar sites.

Winterbourne Medical Director Michael Dooley said: "We are delighted at our continued success because we were in the top 10 last year as well."

He added that Winterbourne provides a comprehensive service to fully investigate infertile couples with a view to making a diagnosis and advising the most appropriate treatment to help them have a child.

Mr Dooley said that Winterbourne Hospital sees about 200 new couples every year.

He added: "We provide a comprehensive treatment programme including IVF and Intra Cytoplasm Sperm Insemination.

"We also provide a sperm donor programme and we have recently established an egg donation programme in order to treat women with early menopause.

"The BMI Group, which runs Winterbourne Hospital, has invested a lot of money in us and we are extremely grateful for all their support. We are delighted that we have proved so successful. It has been a true team effort."

Winterbourne Marketing Manager Graeme Stephens said: "We are very pleased at these results because we don't stipulate an age restriction for the women we treat so our results are across the board which makes them even better."

Leading consultants around the country have called for tougher action against hospitals where women have far less chance of having a baby.

Women at Winterbourne are seven times more likely to have a baby after treatment than women going to Homerton Hospital in East London.

Some consultants say they feel there is no justification in this day and age to licence clinics with success rates of just four or five per cent, especially when patients pay tens of thousands of pounds for this kind of treatment.