RESIDENTS in Swindon are being urged to return two forms to the town's council by the end of October.

One is an application to join the NHS Organ Donor Register and the other is the electoral roll registration.

Swindon Council has joined forces with UK Transplant the national health authority supporting transplantation in a bid to boost the number of people signing on to the NHS Organ Donor Register.

Forms to fill in and register as an organ donor were sent out with the electoral roll forms, along with a letter from Mayor of Swindon Coun Stan Pajak urging people to take up the offer and help save lives.

Thousands of people have already "voted for life" by returning their completed organ donor forms to the council or direct to UK Transplant's Bristol headquarters.

UK Transplant chief executive Sue Sutherland said: "We are delighted with the response so far and we are very grateful to all the people who have already shown that they want to save a life by signing on as an organ donor.

"I would urge people to seize this opportunity to talk about their wishes within their family, return the form and sign on for life.

"A very important part of deciding to become a donor is sharing your wishes with your close relatives so that they know your feelings if the time ever comes."

Around 40 councils from Scotland to Cornwall are taking part in the scheme and it is hoped the initiative could add an extra 500,000 names to the confidential register between now and the end of the year.

Last year alone nearly 400 people died while waiting for a kidney, heart, liver or lung to be donated.

There are currently more than 5,500 people in the UK waiting for a transplant that could save or transform their lives, but only about 2,700 transplants are carried out each year.