TONY BLAIR is back to business as usual following a heart scare at the weekend.

The 50-year-old Prime Minister spent five hours in hospital on Sunday after complaining of chest pains while staying at Chequers.

Doctors at London's Hammersmith Hospital gave him a cardioversion, an electric shock, to correct an irregular heartbeat.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw stood in for Mr Blair to deliver a statement to MPs on Monday. But Mr Blair held a string of meetings inside Downing Street despite being told to take it easy after Sunday's drama.

On Monday morning, Mr Blair was "fit, fine, in good spirits and 100 per cent recovered," his official spokesman said. The Prime Minister was planning to press ahead with his full diary for the rest of the week including his monthly televised media briefing.

Mr Blair's agent in his Sedgefield constituency, John Burton, said: "People in the constituency have been in touch - they're naturally concerned. But now they're thrilled that everything is fine."