Staff and patients at Wirral mental health trust are taking part in a pioneering research programme that could lead to a new way combat Alzheimer’s.

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership trust’s research team led by consultant Psychiatrist Jose Ferran are working with a Swiss pharmaceutical and research company to trial a new vaccine.

the jab inhibits growth of "tangles" in the brain - a typical characteristic of the disease - and aims to slow the decline in Alzheimer’s disease.

The group is working closely with colleagues in the clinical research unit at Royal Liverpool Hospital to provide trial therapy to six Wirral-based patients.

This is a significant number of the programme’s overall patient cohort, which includes just ten in the UK and 24 globally.

If successful the vaccine - called "ACI-352" - could pave the way for a simple jab that slows the effects of the disease.

Dr Anushta Sivananthan, consultant psychiatrist and medical director at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership, said: “There are currently over 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia, and Alzheimer's makes up 62% of these cases.

"Research into this field is absolutely vital, and as an NHS Trust we are committed to working in partnership to do all we can to support research and innovation in this area as well as provide care to existing sufferers.”

Research managerPat Mottram said: “We had to screen over 1,500 people to ensure we found suitable people for this study.

"We have just finished recruiting for this phase of the trial. If the results look promising then we will be recruiting further patients in late summer.”