A 56-year-old grandmother has put out a desperate appeal for an egg donor so that she can realise her 12-year dream for a fourth child.

Priscilla Eatwell and her husband Don, 69, who run a care centre in Bournemouth, have taken out a small ad urging: "Could you give the gift of life and be our egg donor?"

"I'm really in a hurry to find a known donor," said Priscilla, who has two other grown-up children, Carmen, 32, and Sadie, 34, by her first husband. "I've been doing it myself, advertising wherever I can."

"The success rate is quite good - otherwise they wouldn't say they would do it.

"But obviously my time is running out and if a donor doesn't come forward soon it'll be too late."

The couple, who have been together for 20 years and already have one 13-year-old daughter, called Sophie, are desperate for another baby.

But the move has sparked fears among charities who say the child could face bullying because of its elderly parents - or could even find itself caring for them at a young age.