Shoppers at the Exchange Ilford took time out to sit down and have a free blood pressure check on Saturday.

Volunteers from the Rotary Club of Redbridge joined charity the Stroke Association to raise awareness of heart conditions at Know Your Own Blood Pressure.

The annual event highlights the link between blood pressure and strokes, which can be fatal.

Baroness Margaret Thatcher died following a stroke earlier this month, and television presenter Andrew Marr is currently recovering after several strokes.

A lack of blood flow to the brain can stop normal functions and decrease the ability to move, speak or see.

Symptoms include one side of the face dropping, numbness in arms and slurred speech.

The Stroke Association says there are 152,000 strokes in the UK every year and many of the 16million people in the UK with high blood pressure do not know.

Jon Barrick, chief executive of the Stroke Association, said: “Stroke is one of the UK’s biggest killers and leading cause of adult disability, but far too many people don’t understand it or ever think it’ll happen to them.”