Blair: I've cut out coffee for my health

The Prime Minister has admitted that he has stopped drinking coffee following his recent health scare.

Tony Blair suffered heart palpitations in October and was taken to a London hospital for electrocardiac treatment.

"I was told I was taking too much coffee," he said on GMTV today. "But I love my cup of tea. I can't do without that."

After the scare, his wife Cherie was said to have banned coffee, convinced his irregular heartbeat was triggered by too many cups at a European Union summit, followed by a gym workout. Caffeine is known to increase heart rate and blood pressure.

Dr Nick Cooling, a consultant psychologist at The Priory, said: "There is actually no link between caffeine and heart disease, but caffeine can definitely lead to palpitations. I think Cherie was absolutely right to make her husband stop, or at least cut back, on caffeine."

The Prime Minister, 50, who suffered a second health scare last week when doctors attended him after he complained of stomach pains, insisted he was fine.

He said: "I was told almost immediately what it was and that it was pretty normal. There wasn't a great deal of uncertainty. I wasn't unable to carry on working - it is just that I knew something wasn't quite right. Anyway, it was all over in a day."

Mr Blair also admitted he sometimes got as little as three hours sleep. "The thing with the job is it's not routine," he said.