More organs could be available for patients waiting for transplants, thanks to research carried out in Oxford.

The move involves a virtual about-turn in the way donor organs are preserved, using a warm environment instead of the conventional fridge system.

Prof Peter Friend, clinical director of the Oxford Transplant Centre based at the Churchill Hospital, said the results from laboratory trials were good.

"We think the technology is immediately available for actual transplant trials in the hospital environment.

"But realistically we are talking about two years before it comes into mainstream practice," he added.

The research has so far been carried out on livers, but it is hoped the same procedures could also be used for the pancreas, kidney, heart and even lungs.

"The current practice is to cool down an organ, slowing down the metabolical rate. But, in the same way that you cannot keep anything forever in a fridge, there are severe limitations," said Prof Friend.

"The technology is not straight forward, but the work which we have been doing for a number of years shows organs will function much better in a warm rather than cold environment."

There is a huge excess of demand over supply for transplant organs. In the UK there are 7,000 people on waiting lists and annual supply is about 3,000. A substantial improvement on that ratio could be made because damaged organs from, for example, a fatal heart attack, at present unusable, could be repaired using a warm environment mimicking normal body temperature.

The results of the research, carried out within Oxford University, have been published in papers that have excited the interest of the medical and scientific community.

The Oxford Transplant Centre aims to increase its own laboratory space and treat more patients with a new £5m extension. Last year it launched a fundraising campaign and, so far, £1.5m has been raised, though significant new amounts of money are expected within the next six months.

The new building will also improve links with Oxford University scientists and ensure that city patients are first to try out new and innovative therapies.