HEALTH chiefs in Hampshire have admitted that women are being denied fertility treatment on the National Health Service because of a lack of cash.

The admission comes after the Daily Echo reported how 27-year-old Michelle Hughes and her partner Andy Wadsley, 45, were denied treatment because she was too young.

Their case exposed a policy in place across Hampshire, which states that only women between the ages of 36 and 39 are eligible for treatment on the NHS.

A spokeswoman for South-ampton Primary Care Trust said that the current policy was just an interim measure until full national guidelines could be adopted.

She added: "The PCT always has a difficult task in balancing the many priorities and pressures on its budget, and, at the moment, is not in a position to be able to offer funding for women outside the criteria specified in our policy, except in exceptional circumstances."

In neighbouring counties the policy is very different, leading to claims that IVF treatment has become a postcode lottery for couples desperate for children.

Fifteen miles along the coast in Dorset there is a top age of 39 but no lower limit, whereas in Brighton the lower limit is 23.

Hampshire's policy also goes against guidelines produced by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence, which called for an end to inequality in the criteria for IVF treatment within primary care trusts.

Michelle, who lives with Andy in Southampton and works as an auxiliary nurse at Southampton General Hospital, said: "It is absolutely disgusting. It is incredible that your chances of having a child are affected by where you live."

Now bosses from the biggest infertility charity in the country are calling on Hampshire to do more, saying that its refusal amounts to nothing more than money-saving.

Michelle added: "Moving to a place where IVF was available at my age isn't really an option because of the cost and the fact that Andy's business is here along with my job."

The couple have already been forced to spend their £3,800 savings on an unsuccessful round of private treatment, but say they will continue saving for another go unless Hampshire's policy changes.

Clare Brown, chief executive of the charity Infertility Network UK, said: "Not treating people until they are 36 is out and out rationing of IVF treatment and is also out and out hiding of waiting lists.

"We would urge PCTs in Hampshire to follow the NICE guidelines on IVF treatment, and to try to understand the physical and emotional impact of infertility on couples. It is not fair to treat people in this way and is tantamount to a postcode lottery with winners or losers based solely on location."