AN MP is backing a campaign to cut the number of young people who die of heart attacks before they reach 35.

Heart charity Cardiac Risk in the Young held a Parliamentary reception to campaign for improved screening of a condition which on average claims 12 young lives across the UK every week.

Long-term supporter Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham, is backing the charity’s call for a National Strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death.

The MP said; “I am pledging to support a National Strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death to help save the lives of the 12 apparently fit and healthy young people who die every week in the UK of undiagnosed cardiac conditions.”

Since 2010, an annual riverside walk has been held in Durham in support of the charity organised by Jeff Morland whose son, Levon, died from an undiagnosed heart condition, aged just 22.