CULTURE BOSS HAS HEART OP; S i r Bob res t i ng a f t er surgery.

Byline: SCOTT FAULKNER ECHO Reporter

LIVERPOOL'S Capital of Culture bid leader Sir Bob Scott was today recovering from surgery after suffering a heart attack.

The 58-year-old had surgery at the Cardiothoracic Centre in Broadgreen after suffering chest pains yesterday morning.

He admitted himself to the Royal Liverpool hospital and was transferred to the specialist heart hospital for tests, before treatment to remove a blockage in his arteries.

Sir Bob's wife Alicia was travelling from their London home to be at his side.

A spokeswoman for the cardiothoracic centre said Sir Bob was resting and described his condition as comfortable.

She said: ``Sir Bob underwent an angiogram and an angioplasty. This involves invasive surgery but is a fairly common procedure - we perform around 5,000 operations of this type each year.''

The procedure involves inflating a miniature balloon inside a blocked artery to restore normal blood flow after an attack.

He is likely to spend seven days in the centre, where Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier underwent emergency surgery last year.

Sir Bob, who has three children and two stepchildren, lives in Liverpool city centre during the week but travels south at weekends.

All his engagements are being cancelled, including today's planned trip to Liverpool's twin city Cologne, where Sir Bob had hoped to develop further cultural links.

Sir Bob, originally from Minehead, Somerset, will temporarily be replaced as leader of the bid by Liverpool council chief executive David Henshaw, who is also on the board of Culture Company.

A spokesman for Liverpool council said: ``For the next few weeks issues relating to the culture bid will be handled by David Henshaw on Sir Bob's behalf.

``But we must stress that the bid will continue unchanged. It will be all systems go to move the bid on towards the next stage.''