A former beauty queen diagnosed with kidney failure 11 years ago has begged the public to save her.

Former Miss Eastbourne Cherie Royce, of Upper St James's Street, Brighton, will join the waiting list for a replacement kidney next month but fears it could be years before she has a transplant.

She has been told she may have to start dialysis any day. This involves passing her blood through a machine to remove waste healthy kidneys filter out.

Ms Royce, who has danced in films, toured Italy with a burlesque troupe and once appeared on the cover of an Italian magazine, said: "If I begin dialysis I won't be able to do all the things I do now. It could be years before a kidney comes along and I might not be healthy enough to have a transplant. It's really a death sentence.

"If I get worse I will be moved further down the list because they would want to give a donor kidney to someone who is healthy."

Ms Royce's stepdaughter has offered to donate one of hers but doctors turned her down because she was not healthy enough.

Ms Royce said: "I'm really hoping there is some wonderful person out there who would do a live donation. That would be fantastic."

When the Human Tissue Act comes into effect on September 1, people can offer themselves as donors but must be willing to help any patient.

They would have to undergo health checks and an assessment to find out why they were donating before the transplant went ahead.

In the UK there are 6,000 people on the kidney transplant list and the average wait is 729 days. Ms Royce does hospital voluntary work in Brighton but has had to reduce her duties as her illness has got worse.

She said: "You can survive with the kidney not working properly for a while but it has gradually got worse. Until now it hadn't affected me enormously but now I don't have the same energy I used to. I have to have blood and urine tests all the time and I have 17 pills a day."

Penny Hallett, of NHS organisation UK Transplant, said: "There is a desperate shortage of donor organs for transplant and the more people who discuss their wishes with their family and register their willingness to donate after their death the more people like Ms Royce will benefit.

For more information on becoming an organ donor visit www.uktransplant.org.uk or ring 0845 6060400.

If you think you can help Ms Royce, call her on 01273 685156.