SCIENTISTS have discovered a pill that it is hoped could virtually wipe out heart disease and save the NHS hundreds of millions a year.

Trials are due to start shortly of the new treatment - a pill containing aspirin, folic acid and drugs to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

Experts who made the discovery say the pill could prevent 88 per cent of heart attacks and 80 per cent of strokes.

Even better, the cocktail could be manufactured in massive doses at low cost and would have virtually no side-effects.

If the trials are successful the pill could save the NHS a fortune. Heart disease costs the North-East and North Yorkshire more than £160m in hospital costs every year.

The region has the worst record for heart disease in the country.

Despite big strides in treatment and millions in extra Government cash, heart disease still claims the lives of more than 14,000 people in the region every year. Nearly half are under 75.

Researchers believe the pill - dubbed the "Polypill" - would have a greater impact on the prevention of disease in the Western world than any other single drug treatment.

If taken daily by the over-55s and people with cardiovascular problems, it could largely prevent stroke and heart disease.

Heart attacks, stroke and other preventable cardiovascular diseases currently kill or seriously affect half the population of Britain.

A spokesman for The Stroke Association in the North-East said: "As stroke is one of the biggest killers and the largest cause of severe adult disability in the UK, we encourage any research and development of treatment that will reduce the chance of suffering a stroke."

Dr John Canning, from Middlesbrough, a member of the British Medical Association's GP committee, gave the pill a cautious welcome.

"Nothing is ever the panacea it is made out to be," he said. "While it is important to bring blood pressure down and help people to prevent strokes, the most important thing is a change of lifestyle."