Children hoping to travel to the Dead Sea in Jordan to find a cure for a distressing skin condition have had their trip cancelled because of the threat of war.

The University of Bradford's renowned dermatologist Professor Karin Schallreuter had put plans in place to take a group of children to the region in May to treat their vitiligo, after a hugely successful trip last year.

But those plans have now been put on hold because of the threatened war with Iraq. "We are desperate to go again but we cannot because of the global situation," she said. "It would be too dangerous and I am not prepared to take the risk."

Prof Schallreuter has led the way in new advances in the treatment of vitiligo, a pigmentary disorder which makes patches of skin turn white. It isn't contagious or infectious but can badly affect those who have it.

The condition is very hard to treat but Prof Schallreuter has developed a treatment which involves a combination of bathing in the Dead Sea and using a special cream, pseudocatalase PC-KUS.

The combination of the state of the ozone layer at that specific time of year and the salt content of the Dead Sea are key factors in the treatment.

For the first time in May and June last year she took a group of 13 children from England and Germany, ranging in age from six to 15, to Jordan to try the treatment. After only 21 days most of the children noticed a significant recovery of their skin pigmentation. Each day at 8am and 4pm the children had to bathe in the Dead Sea for 15 minutes, followed by a shower.

They then applied the cream and sunbathed for an hour.

"It is superior to any other treatment," said Prof Schallreuter. "We had no one who did not gain pigment."

Since the trip Prof Schallreuter has monitored the condition of the children and almost all of them have kept the pigmentation they gained. By taking further trips it is possible to regain all the pigmentation.

"It was a fantastic experience for everyone," said Prof Schallreuter. "The children were so happy to be there and free, without using make-up and having a good time."