A supermarket has donated £2,500 to support patient care and specialist services.

Waitrose, located in Portswood in Southampton, awarded the sum to Heartbeat, a cardiac charity based in the city, through the John Lewis & Partners Community Matters scheme.

The funds will support improvements to the charity’s D2 Ward at University Hospital Southampton, helping enhance care and facilities for heart patients.

Simon Couldwell, team manager at Waitrose Portswood, said: "The Community Matters programme supports charities, schools and community initiatives to thrive.

"The chosen focus for the first quarter was health and wellbeing and we thought Heartbeat was a great fit for this.

"It’s a remarkable charity just on our doorstep that makes a huge difference to the Southampton community."

Mark Ind, chief executive of Heartbeat, said: "We’re delighted to be part of the Community Matters programme.

"The donation will make an enormous difference to the cardiac care our D2 Ward can deliver."