A NEW national screening drive that aims to reduce the number of sudden deaths among young people will be launched this weekend.

Housed in a mobile trailer, doctors and nurses backed by the Cardiac Risk in the Young (Cry) charity will begin a tour of England in Durham City on Sunday.

They will provide free heart screening for about 3,000 people aged 14 to 35.

They hope that screening young people who are apparently fit and healthy will begin to cut the 600 deaths a year attributed to sudden death syndrome and sudden cardiac death.

The launch will be attended by 12 North-East families who have lost children or young adults to the conditions.

The Durham City event will be in memory of Levon Morland, 22, from West Rainton, County Durham, who died suddenly from a heart defect in 2002.

Levon’s father, Jeff, along with family and friends, have raised more than £130,000 to support Cry, which has campaigned since 1995 for subsidised national cardiac screening for young people.

Mr Morland, 55, said: “One of the dreams me and my family have had was to take screening out to try to find these young kids with heart conditions and to do something before something tragic happens.”

Durham North MP Kevan Jones established an all-party Parliamentary group to support the charity’s work, and Stockton South MP Dari Taylor has also backed the charity.

Mr Morland’s wife, Sandra, died of cancer in July last year. He said: “She would have been very proud that we have made a start.”

Levon left behind a twin brother, Aran, and an elder brother, Brendan, 38.

Steve Cox, from Cry, said: “We expect to find that one in 300 people we scan will have a serious problem. They can then change their lifestyles to dramatically reduce the risk of dying young.”

Electronics company Philips donated the trailer and scanning equipment, worth £660,000.

The scanner will be in the car park at Tesco, Durham City, on Sunday and at Northumbria University, in Newcastle, from May 5 to 10.

Free scans must be booked at testmyheart.org