A woman with Parkinson’s disease can write for the first time in 15 years after receiving gene therapy developed by an Oxford company.

Sheila Roy, 57, is one of only 15 people worldwide to undergo the treatment developed by Oxford Biomedica, which involves injecting corrective genes into the brain.

She has had the disease for 17 years, and now has severe tremors and loss of balance, making simple tasks like writing impossible.

Mrs Roy is taking part in an early study. The therapy involves just one treatment that does not have to be repeated.

Mrs Roy, from Bedfordshire, says she is now starting to see “a glimmer” of the person she was before her illness.

Biomedica’s share price leapt 40 per cent after the results were released. The company employs 58 staff at the Oxford Science Park and 25 staff in Cowley, where it is due to open a manufacturing facility later this year.