The team behind a new screening programme which aims to spot a condition which claims the lives of 6,000 men a year will be in a Norwich shopping centre next week.

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital team will be in Chapelfield to sign up men aged 65 and over who can benefit from screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms, known as AAAs.

The drive is part of a new national screening programme which is being launched at the N&N. Patients will be invited to various screening locations in the community across Norfolk and Waveney.

An estimated 80,000 men aged between 65 and 74 are affected by the condition, which is caused when the main blood vessel in the abdomen - the aorta - weakens and starts to expand.

If undetected, the condition can be fatal and around 6,000 men die every year in England from a burst AAA.

Sarah Pond, AAA screening co-ordinator, said: 'This is an opportunity for patients to come along and find out more information or sign up for screening. We can arrange a screening test which will only take a few minutes and can save lives.'

The team will be in the shopping centre from 9am until 6pm next Tuesday.