Nearly 100 life-saving heart-start machines are to be installed at public places around the North-East and North Yorkshire.

The sophisticated heart difibrillators are being allocated to ambulance services across the region as part of a big push to save more lives.

Having a semi-automatic heart-start machine at hand can dramatically improve the chances of survival if someone has a heart attack, or "cardiac arrest."

In total 96 defibrillators are being awarded to the region's two ambulance services as part of a scheme managed by the British Heart Foundation.

Paid for out of a £6m cash injection from the Big Lottery Fund, the biggest winner in the region was the Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (Tenyas) which was awarded a total of 60 machines.

The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), which covers County Durham, Wearside, Tyneside and Northumberland, was allocated a total of 36 defibrillators.

Nationally a total of 23,270 heart-heart machines are being allocated. The funding to each ambulance service also pays for training equipment and the appointment of a community defibrillation officer.

The BHF has already funded more than 2,000 defibrillators for community sites and schemes around the UK, as well as more than 1,100 heart-heart machines for GPs.

Since 1996 a total of 5,400 defibrillators have been handed over by the BHF, at a total cost of £14m.

Seven out of 10 cardiac arrests happen outside of hospital and currently in the UK only two to three per cent of these people survive.

When someone suffers a cardiac arrest, their chances of survival drop by up to 10 per cent for every minute that passes so a speedy response is crucial.

Performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can double a person's chances of survival. Having a defibrillator at hand can increase survival chances by a third.

Ray Walker, Head of Community Safety and Emergency Planning at TENYAS Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: "This is a major boost for TENYAS and the communities we work in partnership with."

The NEAS plans to place a number of machines with community responder schemes in rural Durham and Northumberland.

Tenyas has plans to install defibrillators in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough shopping centres, Stokesley Leisure Centre and rural locations including Hutton Rudby.