Margaret Wearn has been forced back on dialysis after her body rejected the kidney given to her in a bouble transplant operation in October.

Mrs Wearn, 49, and her husband Roger took part in a swap which saw Roger, 56, give his kidney to the father of a young woman, who in turn gave her kidney to Mrs Wearn.

Mr Wearn had originally planned to give his kidney to his wife but he was not a match.

The operations took place simultaneously at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Cosham, for the Wearns, and at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth for Donald Planner and his daughter Susan Wills from Cornwall.

The failure of the operation to work for Mrs Wearn, who now once more needs dialysis to do the work of her failing kidney, has come as a huge blow for the couple from Stakes Hill Road, Waterlooville.

Mrs Wearn still needs a transplant but her husband now has only one kidney and so has nothing left to offer as a swap.

Mr Wearn, a finance director, said at the weekend: 'It took us a while to reconcile ourselves to this but we are now back to what we were doing before.'

He added that the organ rejection felt like a bereavement.

The exchange was only made possible through legislation introduced last year by the government-run Human Tissue Agency.

Until September 2006 living donors were only allowed to give kidneys to those they were genetically or emotionally related to, such as spouses.

The authority said it was saddened by the outcome of one of the first swaps but said all donors and recipients were counselled about the risks.

Mrs Wills said: 'I am very upset about what has happened to Margaret but my reason for doing this was for my father so, in a selfish way, I am happy that he is doing well.'

Before the operation Mrs Wearn, a cafe supervisor at South Downs College in Waterlooville, spent nine hours a day on dialysis.

In November she spoke about how she felt she had been given a new lease of life by the transplant after suffering with the kidney complaint for four years.