Women are being denied basic IVF treatment on the NHS in defiance of a ruling from government watchdogs, prompting demands for an inquiry.

The rejection of dozens of childless couples by 10 primary care trusts in Hampshire - described by one 32-year-old denied treatment as a 'kick in the teeth' - flies in the face of former Health Secretary John Reid's insistence that every trust should have provided at least one free cycle of IVF treatment to help infertile couples get pregnant by April 2005.

A review of fertility treatment unveiled last week by the Department of Health questioned whether test tube baby techniques should also be offered to healthy couples wanting to choose the sex of their child or eliminate inherited diseases.

'I have seen the stories about screening embryos for hereditary cancers: we have got to that level of sophistication and yet people don't have access to the basic minimum of fertility treatment,' said Mark Hoban, the Conservative MP for Fareham, whose constituency is one of several affected.

'For a lot of people the cost [of going private] is too high: they saw this as their opportunity to have children, which they feel they have been denied.'

He has written to the Healthcare Commission, which investigates complaints against the NHS, asking for an inquiry. The National Infertility Awareness Campaign, which supports childless couples, is also demanding 'swift action' from the Government.

'Infertility is an emotionally distressing condition, which is only added to when couples find themselves unable to access the treatment they require and which they have been promised,' said a spokeswoman.

Jane Harper, who has been trying for a baby for three years, is one of those affected. She did get pregnant following a course of drugs to stimulate ovulation, but suffered a miscarriage: her consultant at Frimley Park hospital then recommended her for IVF. Her local primary care trust, Blackwater Valley and Hart PCT, is among those not funding treatment.

Harper (not her real name) admits to 'throwing things at the radio' when she heard the discussion last week about extending fertility treatment.

'That's about whether you should be able to choose the sex of your baby. I don't care about that: I just want a baby,' she said.

At 35, Harper fears she is running out of time to conceive: the couple are now contemplating a £5,000 bill for private treatment.

'Luckily we can pay for IVF, but I know other people in the area who don't have that option,' she said. 'Yet if I lived three miles down the road, I would now be getting treated for free.'

Gill Foley, who has been trying for a baby for five years and had taken drugs to stimulate ovulation, without success, was turned down when she visited her doctor.

'He just nodded politely and said, "There's no funding available", and printed me off a letter [from the trust] saying that it wasn't deemed a high priority,' said Foley. 'Yet infertility can have devastating consequences: it is important. We do feel cheated, because there are people out there getting treatment.'

She and her husband now plan to sell a car to raise the cash for private treatment.

The debate began last February, when the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) - which issues recommendations on which treatments the NHS should offer, and is meant to eliminate so-called 'postcode lotteries' - concluded medically infertile couples were entitled to three free cycles of IVF. Reid then announced that would be introduced gradually, starting with a minimum of one cycle from April 2005.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said it was up to local authorities to enforce guidelines, adding: 'We can't say, "You must": we are saying, "We expect you to provide one cycle".'