IT'S A VICTORY for nearly 4,000 people - five weeks of campaigning and a three inch-thick petition have finally paid off for thousands of readers who backed the Daily Echo's Have a Heart campaign.

Today health bosses have finally seen sense and reinstated the heart rehabilitation classes which were controversially scrapped last month in a bid to save just £20,000 of NHS cash.

Following the Daily Echo's Have a Heart campaign, health bosses have confirmed that the eight-week classes, which help people recover from heart problems, will resume in January.

Both New Forest and Southampton City Primary Care Trusts have announced they will be taking over the treatment axed two months ago by Southampton hospital managers.

The decision has delighted campaigners who have spent the last month collecting a 3,900-signature petition.

Former heart patient Anne Fry, who headed the campaign, said it was a 'victory for compassion and common sense', while Southampton Itchen MP John Denham said it was 'fantastic news'.

The campaign to save the classes, held at leisure centres around Southampton and the Waterside, was launched after it was revealed they were to be axed as part of a £15m cost-cutting drive by Southampton's NHS trust.

The classes form the third stage in a four-phase rehabilitation programme, with Stage One providing specialist advice to patients on cardiac wards, and stage two a telephone advice service.

Stage three helps patients recover and learn healthier lifestyles. Only when they have completed this can they move on to Stage Four which takes the exercise element of the course to the next level.

Mr Denham said: "This is a real victory for all the people who have campaigned on this. It is fantastic news. The truth is it should never have happened."

Campaign leader Mrs Fry, who completed Stage Three classes two years ago said: "I would like to say a great big thank you to the Daily Echo."