LEISURE centre staff are to be given portable machines which could save the lives of people who show signs of suffering heart attacks while working out.

The small devices monitor people's heartbeats and give out electric shocks if problems occur.

A machine will be on stand-by at Horwich and Farnworth Leisure Centres, and the Excel Centre in Bolton town centre.

These venues have been chosen because they hold exercise sessions for patients recovering after suffering heart attacks or heart surgery.

Eventually, all of the council's leisure centres will have them.

More than 270,000 people each year suffer a heart attack and 46 per cent of these are fatal.

The devices, called Automated External Defibrillators, can be used by people who are not medically trained, so they do not have to wait for the help of paramedics or doctors.

Bolton Council's Health and Fitness Development Team has bought three of these pieces of lifesaving equipment, with the help of funding from the British Heart Foundation.

A total of 30 per cent of these deaths occur before the person has even reached hospital.

It is hoped they will increase a victim's chances of survival before the paramedics arrive.