The Bicycle Restoration Group has been formed at Northgate Hospital to give rusty, run-down bikes a new lease of life.

The spruced up cycles are then sold on to staff, with the profits handed over to good causes.

The scheme is the brainchild of a patient, who wanted meaningful activity to help his recuperation, and Morpeth Police have supported the venture by passing on any unclaimed bikes they recover.

Northgate Occupational Therapist Clive Kemp said: "We get the bikes from a variety of sources, but primarily from the Police.

"The patients repair them, restore them and sell them on and then give the money to charity.

"We just sell them to Northgate staff at the moment, but we will probably have to sell them beyond that at some point because there are so many."

About 40 bikes have been given to the group, each taking about three or four weeks to restore.

The patients use the activity to learn about tool safely and basic mechanical engineering and are given responsibility for overseeing the budget, organising the operation and selling the bikes.

"Purposeful activity is what occupational therapy is all about and with this scheme the patients are learning basic repair skills, money handling and book keeping to run the business side of it," said Mr Kemp.

"It is not just work for its own sake, it is activity that is going somewhere and the patients can see the results of their hard work and see other people benefiting from it.

"They are doing something useful, it is recycling and it is for the benefit of the community."

Morpeth Police Inspector Mick Dwyer has welcomed the project.

"Northumbria Police are very happy to support this type of initiative and the Neighbourhood Policing Team at Morpeth will provide all the assistance possible," he said.

"The residents at Northgate are gaining valuable skills and worthy charities are benefiting so this is a real example of partnership work bringing tangible benefits to all."