A NINE-YEAR campaign ends today with a £175,000 boost for heart patients in the south of County Durham.

The final task for members of Bishop Auckland's echocardiography appeal committee before it winds up will be to present a new heart scanner to the town's hospital.

The machine is equipped to carry out a wide variety of tests to diagnose heart disease in adults and children.

It can also check major blood vessels in the neck, which will help doctors in the prevention of strokes.

The scanner's advanced technology makes the diagnosis of cardiac disease much easier because images are clearer and abnormalities more readily recognisable.

It will be especially useful for a planned one-stop heart clinic, which will be established at Bishop Auckland General Hospital in the new year, enabling people with suspected heart failure to be tested and diagnosed on the same day.

The new equipment will replace the hospital's seven-year-old echocardiography machine, which was bought with the proceeds of a fundraising campaign launched at the end of 1991.

The arrival of this machine in 1993 meant that, for the first time, Bishop Auckland patients could be monitored on their doorstep instead of having to travel to clinics at Durham or Middlesbrough.

After raising money for the machine, appeal committee members continued to manage surplus funds, and a portable echo machine was bought for the coronary care unit in 1996.

Since then, consultant physician Dr Ali Mehrzad has raised money for the fund by taking part in clinical trials and a pilot project allowing GPs open access to the scanning service.

Dr Mehrzad said: "This life- saving equipment will play a vital part in our plans for tackling heart disease.

"In particular, its advanced technology will be crucial to the early diagnosis of heart failure."

Paul Trippett, chairman of the South Durham Health Care NHS Trust, said: "This machine will be a real boost to our cardio-respiratory unit.

"We are extremely grateful to the appeal committee, in particular Dr Mehrzad. Their commitment and hard work has really paid off.