AN ACUPUNCTURIST who has been treating Sri Lankan survivors of the Asian tsunami is returning to the UK to set up a clinic in Bourne End.

Charlotte Brydon was part of a team of 28 trained acupuncturists who volunteered for the Acupuncture Sans Frontiere relief effort in Colombo, Galle and Matara.

Treatment centres were set up in Buddhist monasteries with the help and connections of the venerable Buddhist monk Mangela Thero.

Miss Brydon said: "There was such a great demand for treatment, that on the second day of opening the Matara Clinic 1,000 people had arrived before 9.30am from all over the country."

A combination of body and ear acupuncture was used to treat patients with back pro-blems, sprained ankles, numb-ness and sore necks and around 8,000 treatments were adm-inistered in a three week period.

Miss Brydon said: "It was exhausting work, both mentally and physically, but it was very rewarding. What's great is that I work within a profession that can make a direct and significant contribution to the much needed healing process, that's worth something of terrific value in my mind and I feel honoured to have been able to help."

Miss Brydon trained in Reading at the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine and is a member of the British Acupuncture Council.

She hopes to establish her own clinic in Station Road, Bourne End, and also plans to return to Sri Lanka at Christmas or possibly in the New Year to continue the work out there.

Miss Brydon added: "Acupuncture can make a lasting and significant difference to people's lives. With acupuncutre becoming recognised as a leading healthcare option, there is no reason why the acupuncture community should not be represented at any world crisis."