Workers at an East Yorkshire firm have thrown themselves into the desperate search for a bone marrow donor for a little leukaemia victim.

Staff at VMS on the Pocklington Industrial Estate, which sells computerised accounting systems, are rallying round to help six-year-old Molly-Ann Barnett, the daughter of the firm's part-owner Paul Barnett.

But they face a desperate race against time to find a donor for Molly-Ann, from Hull, who is currently in St James's Hospital in Leeds suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia.

Ken Wood, marketing manager at VMS, said they had about five days to find a donor, because she needed a bone marrow transplant in seven weeks and once a potential match was found about six weeks of tests were required.

He added staff had been busy raising awareness of the need for people to register as donors, going out at weekends distributing leaflets.

Everyone there who could give blood for a test had done, and they had also persuaded people outside the company to go to donor sessions.

"Everyone is doing their bit," he said.

Mr Wood said the way the 35-strong workforce had rallied round Molly-Ann had helped her father cope with the situation.

"It's a very distressing time; she's going up and down all the time, but it's giving him something to fight for," he added.

Mr Barnett said the public response to the appeal had been "great", with people queuing for over two hours in Hull to give blood.

He added: "We will get a donor. Somebody out there has more chance of saving Molly's life than of winning the lottery."

There were another two children the same age on the ward also desperate for a donor, and 1,000 across the country.

"Don't rely on other people go and give blood tomorrow and save a life," he said.

People can become donors by contacting the 24-hour Blood Transfusion Helpline on 0345-711711, they can check the website www.blooddonor.org.uk to find the next donor session nearest to them, or they can see BBC2 Teletext page 465.

A special website www.molly-ann.com has also been set up giving details of the progress of her appeal.