HEART disease care in Darlington is to reach new heights with the appointment of a specialist nurse.

Former flight supervisor Alison Billau has been appointed coronary heart disease nurse at Darlington Primary Care Trust, expanding one of the region's best teams.

Mrs Billau, who was born in Bishop Auckland, said: "When I left school I trained as a nurse but then became cabin crew with an airline.

"Then I returned to medicine and am now really looking forward to my new role.

"It's a very exciting prospect coming from a hospital into primary care, where there is so much going on at the moment, and it's a fantastic time to be a nurse."

Mrs Billau will work with a team helping with cardiac rehabilitation and the heart failure clinics.

For the past eight years she has been a cardiac rehabilitation sister at the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

She was a flight supervisor for 14 years with British Midland.