THE Government minister in charge of public health came face to face with the North-East's pioneering gym-on-wheels for the first time yesterday.

Caroline Flint, who met ten-year-olds from Bishop Auckland on the WOW (Wellness On Wheels) gym, said: "It is an amazing bit of kit. For children it it like walking into the Tardis."

The million pound gym, backed by a £640,000 grant from Sport England, will visit towns and villages all over Wear Valley over the next three years as part of a big push to improve fitness and reduce heart disease.

The initiative, backed by an alliance including Wear Valley District Council and The Northern Echo, could become the model for the UK.

Ironically, officials said yesterday the gym's ten-week stint in Wolsingham, due to start on Monday, has been delayed a week due to damage to the trailer's legs.

Ms Flint was part of a delegation of ministers and senior Department of Health officials in the North-East yesterday.

Rosie Winterton, Minister for Health Services and Sue Roberts, national director for diabetes, met elderly residents in South Shields before seeing a new MRI scanner at South Tyneside District Hospital.

Care Services Minister Liam Byrne visited Tremenduna Grange, in Sedgefield, County Durham, to see an award-winning IT system, and opened a joint replacement unit in Hartlepool.

Elsewhere in the region, projects were visited by NHS chief executive Sir Nigel Crisp, Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson, Jane Kennedy, Minister for Quality and Patient Safety, and other senior officials.