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Britons in need of organ transplants are travelling abroad to buy kidneys on the black market, a shocking new documentary reveals.

Desperate patients from the UK are reportedly forking out tens of thousands of pounds to undergo organ transplants in Pakistan.

In some cases, their kidneys come from trafficking victims, who are allegedly kidnapped and forced into giving up their organs .

In other instances, poverty-stricken locals, in need of money, are coerced into "selling" their kidneys, according to the programme.

(Image: The BBC's File on 4 programme)

While the victims' body parts are sold at extravagant prices, they receive as little as £1,000 from the sales, the BBC Radio 4 programme shows.

And in some instances, British citizens reportedly suffer complications from the black market procedures after they return home.

It comes as three people in the UK die every day waiting for an organ transplant, with more than 7,000 on the transplant waiting list.

One British patient, who has been on dialysis for five years, recently took to Facebook to ask for help finding a new kidney.

He tells the programme that a stranger in Pakistan saw his plea on the social network and offered him his organ - in return for money.

(Image: The BBC's File on 4 programme)

Another UK citizen, a young dad, reportedly developed a serious infection after borrowing money on a credit card to undergo surgery in Pakistan .

He died several days later after medics allegedly sent him back to Britain after he ran out of money to pay for further hospital treatment.

According to the general secretary of the Pakistan Transplantation Society, up to 100 illegal transplants take place in Pakistan each month.

Appearing on the File on 4 programme, Dr Mirza Naqi Zafar says black market operations cost patients between $50,000 and $60,000 each.

That's the equivalent of £39,600 to £47,600 - far more than the £1,000 or £2,000 that locals are reportedly paid to give up their organs.

(Image: The BBC's File on 4 programme)

Dr Naqi Zafar says foreign people "of Pakistan origin have gone and had transplants and they've come back with complications."

When asked whether this includes Brits, he simply replies: "Yes."

Dr Naqi Zafar says he and other medics - who are part of a global network trying to stem the dangerous, illegal trade in Pakistan - have received emails about a hospital in the country called the "Kidney Centre".

These emails reportedly describe how foreigners have undergone organ transplants at the facility and returned home with complications.

They include messages from the UK, Australia and Canada.

The medic says although things are "moving in the right direction", more has to be done internationally to tackle the issue of illegal transplants in Pakistan.

According to experts, patients who buy kidneys - and other organs - on the black market are placing themselves at a huge risk.

(Image: Moment RF)

The NHS warns on its website: "Purchasing a kidney from the black market offers no guarantees about the quality of the organ supplied or patient safety."

The Radio 4 programme reveals how, in October last year, 24 people were rescued by police after allegedly being kidnapped by an organ trafficking gang.

Dad-of-four Sadi Ahmed, who was among those freed, claims he was held hostage for three months and told his kidney would be removed.

He says he was told he would receive 300,000 rupees [£2,300] for the organ.

Sadi was allegedly lured to a building in Rawalpindi with the offer of a job, before being "beaten up" and "padlocked in" behind a metal grill with 23 others.

He claims he was just hours away from undergoing an operation to have his organ removed at the Kidney Centre when police rescued him.

While thousands of Brits remain on the organ transplant list, people from ethnic minorities typically wait longer for transplants than others.

The NHS Blood and Transplant's strategy, Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020, aims to achieve 80 per cent consent rates by that year.

(Image: TSP)

However, figures show the majority of ethnic minorities still don't consent for organ donation after death - with just a 34 per cent consent rate.

Despite this, the NHSBT says the number of black and Asian patients receiving transplants is on the rise.

Sally Johnson, the NHSBT director of organ donation and transplantation, told the BBC : "[In] 2010-11 about 500 black and Asian people received transplants, last year that increased to 792, that's a big increase over the time period."

In 2015, the Mirror reported how criminal gangs were cashing in on poor and terminally ill Brits by setting up deals to flog kidneys for transplants .

Some penniless people were so desperate for money just to survive they were willing to sell their organs on Facebook , an investigation found.

Experts warned that patients receiving kidneys from unregulated donors were running the risk of catching deadly infections, including HIV .

Meanwhile, Facebook urged any of its users to report any such offers.

A spokeswoman said at the time: “Any indication of forced organ sale or someone offering a child’s organ for sale breaks our rules and would be removed from Facebook. In countries where it is illegal to offer organs for sale we would restrict content from being viewed when we receive an official request to do so.”

There is a legal framework in Britain for organ and tissue donation. Buying or selling a kidney in the country is illegal and punishable by jail time.

The File on 4 programme, The Cost of a Kidney, was broadcast on Tuesday, January 24, at 8pm, but you can listen to it on BBC iPlayer Radio