HEART patients from Sedgefield borough are taking part in an exercise scheme to help combat heart disease.

The cardiac rehabilitation exercise programme, which got under way in January, is being offered to all people who have had coronary artery bypass surgery.

It will run for six weeks, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 1pm to 3pm, at the Pioneering Care Centre, in Newton Aycliffe.

The programme, which has been developed by Sedgefield Primary Care Trust, the Pioneering Care Centre and Sedgefield Borough Council, involves exercise, relaxation tuition and education on heart disease and its prevention.

Karen Reid, a coronary heart disease prevention nurse, said: "Sedgefield borough has higher-than-average levels of coronary heart disease, with currently almost 5,000 patients.

"In the past, patients from the Sedgefield area had to go to local hospitals for cardiac rehabilitation, including Bishop Auckland, Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool and North Tees.

"This new community- based exercise programme will give local heart patients the chance to have a cardiac rehabilitation service in a community setting, which is easily accessible to them.

"We will be starting a second programme in April at the Barnfield Centre, in Spennymoor, on Wednesdays and Fridays, from 9.30am to 11.30am."

For details about the project and new courses in the area, contact 0191-301 3820.