HEALTH bosses in Pendle want to get people getting out of their armchairs to fight heart disease.

The area has one of the highest rates of heart disease in Britain and health officials hope to raise people's awareness of how regular exercise can prevent problems.

Activate Pendle has teamed up with Worcester University College and the Countryside Agency to encourage people to walk more.

Research will include fitting stepometers to eight volunteers, including Pendle MP Gordon Prentice and David Cunliffe, a non-executive director of the PCT, to monitor how far they walk each week.

The guinea pigs will wear the stepometers attached to their belts for five weeks and will be aiming to walk 10,000 steps a day to cover the recommended distance.

Mr Prentice said: "This is going to be a fascinating health exercise.

"The couch potatoes need to get out of their armchairs because they can just fall out of bed and into their cars and go to work and they have got to think about that. There is a higher incidence of long term illness in Pendle and people exercising more is one way to start tackling that.

"I'm not a super-fit health crusader, but walking doesn't cost anything and it's probably the most popular pastime in Britain."

Activate Pendle manager Anne Shirley added: "Walking is something that nearly all of us can do. It doesn't cost anything and fits very easily into our everyday lives. It's one of the easiest ways to make changes to improve our health."

A public health study published last year found people in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale were four times more likely to suffer heart disease than the national average.

Mozaquir Ali, spokesman for Activate Pendle, said: "Walking is the best form of exercise for the heart and people just need to take the time. All of the volunteers are looking forward to the experiment."

Current health guidelines state that walking for 30 minutes five times a week reduces the risk of heart disease.