As part of The Gazette's Healthy Hearts campaign, health reporter Hugh Cadman reports on a Basingstoke councillor's life after heart-related problems.

DAN Putty finds it difficult to resist the odd peanut and biscuit.

After a heart attack in 1997 and a quadruple by-pass in 1998, he knows they are not the sort of things he should be eating.

But the 52-year-old borough councillor told The Gazette with a smile: "The temptation of peanuts is too much sometimes. And eating low-fat biscuits can be very boring, but I do things in moderation.

"My wife gets angry with me sometimes about it and she is very strict with my diet."

He admits he has struggled with his weight, having put back on much of what he lost immediately after surgery.

A recent echo-cardiogram showed he needed to increase his dose of statins - drugs which lower levels of cholesterol in the body.

Dan's battle with heart disease has been complicated by his diabetes and back problems.

The former he manages through diet, but the back problem - which ended his career as a psychiatric nurse after 20 years - also limits the exercising he can do.

He says his heart attack changed his life "dramatically". He had to give up his job in the financial services business and was sent down for cardiac rehabilitation under Dr Hugh Bethell in Alton before and after his surgery.

He says: "Dr Bethell and his team were fantastic and prepared me for what was to come.

"They didn't just work on the physical side, but worked on the emotional and other aspects.

"Now I find exercise really motivates me and makes me feel better physically and mentally.

"If I don't go to Basingstoke Sports Centre twice a week and exercise at home, I have aches and pains. Your body is telling you there is something missing."

Although he gave up work, he has not given up his involvement in community matters.

He remains a magistrate and borough councillor, is governor of two schools and a trustee of two organisations including the Basingstoke Sports Centre.

And he still has the occasional meal cooked in the style of his native Mauritius.

He adds: "Very, very rarely I might just have a glass of single malt with my relatives when we get together. I enjoy it, I admit that."