Lonely hearts in the disabled community could be warmed thanks to a new internet dating service.

Nicola Langlands set up the Chain of Hearts web site to help people with disabilities find friendship and love.

Nicola, from Coast Road, Pevensey Bay, underwent a heart and lung transplant when she was 13 years old.

She said when she left college, she looked for dating agencies for disabled people and only found one, which charged a lot of money.

Nicola did eventually find love and defied medical odds to become the first woman to survive the double transplant and then give birth naturally. Her healthy daughter, Megan, is now three.

But after a lonely earlier life, Nicola, 25, has now set up a free web site to help other people with disabilities find happiness.

Nicola said: "I think people with disabilities lose confidence because they don't go out and meet people.

"When I left college, about seven years ago, I found it difficult to meet people and thought maybe there should be a dating agency for people with disabilities.

"There was one but it cost £130 for six months.

"So I set up Chain of Hearts, which is free at the moment."

The web site has already drawn interest from as far away as America, with ten inquiries from disabled people in its first week alone. However, Nicola is having to limit it to people in the UK.

There are now more than 20 people on the books but Nicola said she would like to get more people involved, especially women.

Nick Tapp, deputy chief executive of East Sussex Disability Association, was impressed by the idea.

He said: "It is always difficult for disabled people to meet others, particularly young people. Their social networks are not the same as their non-disabled peers.

"Increasingly, disabled people use the web for communication and they are often streets ahead of their peers on computers.

"I think it is a very good idea and I wish Nicola well.

"The only proviso is there are people who prey on the vulnerable.

"You have to be careful with any dating agency but disabled people are even more vulnerable and often rely on the goodwill of others."

To find out more, log on to www.chainofhearts.com or phone Nicola on 01323 766689.