A private fertility clinic is urging Mancunian men to come forward after Britain’s national sperm bank was forced to close due to lack of donors.

The National Sperm Bank has shut its doors just two years after being launched after only seven men having signed up to the programme.

But Manchester is bucking the trend when it comes to sperm donation, according to the Cheadle based Manchester Fertility Clinic.

And now the clinic is urging more men to consider becoming donors to help those who cannot conceive.

Donors aged from 18 to 41 are offered £35 to cover expenses for each donation they make.

Those who provide sperm for fertility treatment are entitled to find out if their sperm was used successfully, the year of the baby’s birth and its gender.

Bosses at the clinic say donors could therefore potentially earn about £2,000 over a 12-month period, based on them making 40 to 60 donations.

The clinic launched a new project named Semovo in May, in order to expand its Manchester Donors scheme nationwide.

Bosses say the project allows it to distribute donor sperm direct to partner clinics across the UK.

They say that before this, donors were limited geographically, with few other clinics having the resources needed to recruit their own sperm donors.

Andrew Berkley, director of Semovo, said: “The closure of the National Sperm Bank may give the impression that men just don’t want to donate, that the removal of anonymity in 2005 caused numbers to drop, but our flagship Manchester programme has seen year-on-year increases in the numbers of recruited sperm donors since it started in 2009.

“We’re changing the way men donate sperm.

“We’ve removing the single clinic restriction – our network makes it more convenient than ever to donate sperm, whilst ensuring all those who need donor sperm can start their family.

“With the closure of the National Sperm Bank, experts have highlighted the need for better co-ordination and a network.

“At Semovo we’re making this happen, we have the resources and expertise.”

The National Sperm Bank was set up in October 2014 in a bid to tackle a shortage of donors.

Experts say a shortage of donors often causes patients to look overseas or to use unregistered services.

It is estimated that 2,000 children are born every year in the UK through the use of donated eggs, sperm or embryos helping infertile couples, gay couples and single women to have children.