EYE patients from Oxfordshire are being denied sight-saving treatment at an Oxford hospital, although it is given to people living outside the county.

Jack Tolley and his wife Gwen

NHS managers in Oxfordshire have decided not to pay for the £6,000 treatment.

Patients have been told that if they want the operation they must have it done privately.

But health officials in west Berkshire have agreed to pay for residents of the area to be treated at the Oxford Eye Hospital, which is part of the Radcliffe Infirmary.

People suffering from a condition called macular degeneration, caused by leaking blood vessels behind the eye, can eventually go blind.

But now a new treatment called photodynamic therapy, which destroys faulty blood vessels, is available. One sufferer, Jack Tolley, 76, of Bladon, near Woodstock, looks after his disabled wife Gwen, 87. But his condition has left him unable to do basic tasks.

The former builder has had unsuccessful NHS laser treatment but has been told he cannot have photodynamic therapy.

Mr Tolley, who has asked his MP David Cameron for help, said: "I find it a bit annoying. I've never been unemployed so I've paid my dues, but I'm still not allowed this treatment."

Hospital treatment is paid for by patients' local primary care trust, but most PCTs, including those in Oxfordshire, have decided not to pay for the new therapy until the National Institute of Clinical Excellence issues guidelines on its use in January.

But West Berkshire PCT has agreed to offer it on a case-by-case basis.

Mr Tolley's daughter Jane Whitaker, of Oxford, fears her father will have lost his sight before the guidance is issued.

She said: "He may be able to pay to have it done privately, but it's very unfair that if he doesn't do that, he will just be left to go blind.

Witney MP Mr Cameron has written to North East Oxfordshire PCT, which covers Bladon, and to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the eye hospital.

North East Oxfordshire PCT chief executive Ginny Hope said: "We feel Mr Tolley has been appropriately and best treated with the resources available in Oxfordshire."

A spokesman for Thames Valley Health Authority, which is responsible for Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, said: "This is an interim arrangement and we expect all PCTs in the Thames Valley to introduce arrangements to manage the new guidelines fairly and equitably once they are in place.

"Local inequalities are partly due to the previous set-up, with three health authorities setting their own priorities. It will be our role to make sure that all patients have access to the same services."