HEALTH Secretary Andrew Lansley has officially opened a new stroke unit at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) .

Mr Lansley opened the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU) at the hospital in Farnborough, which means Bromley victims will no longer have to travel to central London for treatment.

The HASU, which has been in use since May 18, has a higher number of specialist stroke doctors and nurses than a normal unit.

It also provides the thrombolysis procedure to break down blood clots, as well as high-tech CT scanning equipment, and will treat more than 1,000 patients a year.

Mr Lansley, who had a stroke 19 years ago aged 35, said: “If you can get patients to a place where they are seen, scanned and treated within three hours, that can make a great difference.”