Eddisbury MP Antoinette Sandbach has used her role in parliament to try to find a stem cell donor match for one of her constituents who has blood cancer.

The man, who she called Peter from Cheshire and has myeloma, is looking for a stem cell donor but struggling to find a match.

A blood stem cell (or bone marrow) transplant can replace a damaged immune system in a person with blood cancer – but only if the donor’s tissue type matches.

In her question to the Department for Health and Social Care, Ms Sandbach asked: “I hope the minister will join in praising my constituent Peter, who has myeloma, and set up the 10,000 Donors register.

"They now have 22,000 donors registered but he has a rare ethnic mix of English, Irish, Chinese and Portuguese. What more can be done to encourage donors from minority communities?”

Health minister Jackie Doyle Price replied: “We do encourage people to take that test to establish their genetic heritage, so we can have more and more diverse people on the register.”

But after she raised the issue, Ms Sandbach added: “The government is taking big steps to improve things, but at the end of the day we need more people to register.

"Only wo per cent of people in the UK are registered as stem cell donors. This compares to nine per cent in Germany. We can and must do more.”

Henny Braund, chief executive of Anthony Nolan, the UK charity which saves and improve the lives of everyone who needs a stem cell transplant, said: “Every day, five people will start their search for a matching stranger who might save their life.

“Only 60 per cent of people who have stem cell transplants receive the best match in the UK and this drops dramatically to around 20 per cent, if you're from a mixed, black, Asian or ethnic minority background.

"This shocking statistic urgently needs addressing and we’re grateful to Antoinette for highlighting this.

“Each new donor who’s inspired to join the Anthony Nolan register, could mean a second chance for someone in need of a lifesaving stem cell transplant.”