A frozen heart is improving the quality of care for cardiology patients, with a new procedure in Norwich now under way.

Patients from Norfolk and Suffolk who have an irregular heart beat - atrial fibrillation (AF) - are some of the first to benefit from the new procedure, which freezes the veins leading into the heart, at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

The cardiology team at the hospital have begun the procedure, calling cryoablation, after £14,400 was donated by the Norfolk Heart Trust for new equipment.

Previously, patients had to travel to Cambridge to London to have the treatment, which aims to relieve the symptoms of AF.

Dr Richard Till, consultant cardiologist and electrophysiologist, said it was part of a strategy to treat more complex heart conditions closer to home.

He said they were the third hospital in East Anglia to offer invasive treatments for AF.