London: British Prime Minister Tony Blair was today (Oct 1, 2004) admitted to the Hammersmith Hospital in West London for corrective treatment of an irregular heartbeat.

Blair's doctor Punit Ramrakha said yesterday (Sep 30, 2004) that "due to a recurrence of the irregular heartbeat, we have arranged to admit him to hospital to have a procedure known as catheter ablation."

In 'catheter ablation', which will take around two and a half hours, a catheter will be fitted to give off pulses of energy to stop his heart "short-circuiting" again.

51-year-old Blair will be under local anaesthetic to treat the "flutters", from which he also suffered last year.

"A wire is inserted through veins into the heart cavity which allows doctors to 'map' the rhythm disorder," Professor John Camm, a cardiologist with the British Heart Foundation said.

"The wire is then manoeuvred next to that point and pulses of energy are sent down it which should correct the heart's rhythm," he added.

Blair said he felt "fine" as he left Downing Street this morning (Oct 1, 2004).

Asked what the heart "flutter" was like, Blair said last night, "It's not particularly alarming but it's just something you should get fixed and so it's what they call a routine procedure that'll be done."

"I've actually had it (flutter) for the last couple of months and it's obviously not impeded me doing my work and feeling fine but it's as well to get it done."

Blair will remain in the hospital until Saturday and then rest over the weekend.