Life-saving kerbside injections of clot-busting heart drugs are about to begin in the region.

Rural areas of County Durham and Northumberland will be the first to see paramedics administering the drug within weeks.

It means patients will be treated with revolutionary clot-busting drugs on the spot instead of having to be taken to hospital.

The plan has been ordered by the Government to reduce the number of people who die as a result of heart attacks.

Once the scheme is in place it is expected to save many lives.

Thrombolytic drugs can dissolve dangerous blood clots and greatly increase the chance of a full recovery.

But they can only work in the first few hours after an attack.

More remote parts of the region have been chosen by the North East Ambulance Service because of the distance between outlying areas and city hospitals.

Once the technique has been tried out in rural areas the plan is to give paramedics the go-ahead to use clotbusting drugs in cities.

During the last 18 months all NEAS ambulances have been rebuilt to incorporate sophisticated heart monitors known as 12 lead defibrillators. They are already being used by paramedics to radio data ahead so hospital doctors can be ready with clot-busting drugs.

Since they were first introduced in the NEAS area last August around a thousand patients have been treated.

But in March the monitors will be used by selected paramedics to give injections at the scene.

Full story in The Northern Echo tomorrow.