A Keighley medical equipment firm is to press ahead with plans to develop a foetal heart simulator to help save the lives of unborn babies.

Viamed, in Crosshills, has been awarded £45,000 Government cash to take the idea off the drawing board and into a prototype.

The firm, which has matched the cash award pound-for-pound, is now putting its ideas together for the simulator which will test heart equipment currently used on mothers in the later stages of pregnancy.

The simulator could be used as a quick everyday check by midwives, as a diagnostic tool for biomedical engineers, or as a teaching aid for medical staff.

Stephen Nixon, from the firm, said the equipment simulates an unborn baby in distress.

The device comes as the Medical Devices Agency issued a safety warning. The organisation fears midwives and doctors could confuse the heart rates of mothers and unborn children which could lead to severe foetal problems going unnoticed.

The firm, which is owned by couple John and Jean Lamb, has already developed a resuscitator for new-born babies called the Tom Thumb.

The company has won cash in the Smart awards sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry which provides financial backing for good ideas to become a prototype.

The firm is one 20 Yorkshire companies sharing in a £1million Smart award pot.

Jeremy Walker, regional director of the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "Innovation is a key driver of competitiveness and business success. Once again this region has proved it has the inventiveness and commercial acumen needed to build tomorrow's world."

He said the Smart award offers cash at a vital stage of development and will help get innovative projects off the drawing board and into action.

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