Only one in five people can properly identify the symptoms of a stroke, leaving many people vulnerable to the longer term damage of delayed treatment, a survey revealed today.

Forty per cent of people would not call an ambulance if they or someone they knew suffered facial, arm or leg weakness or speech problems, the key indicators of a stroke, the NOP survey of 1,000 adults for the Stroke Association revealed. Twenty-two per cent could not identify any symptom.

The Stroke Association estimates that the condition costs the UK £7bn a year in rehabilitation and losses due to disability.

A stroke occurs when blood is cut off from a region of the brain starving it of oxygen. Oxygen deprivation kills brain cells, and treatment in the immediate moments and hours after a stroke can help reduce long-term damage.

When asked what they would do if they suspected a friend or relative was suffering a stroke, 33% said they would advise them to have a lie down, and 12% would wait to see if symptoms worsened before taking further action.

Sixty-seven thousand people in the UK die every year as a result of stroke: if 22% of people fail to recognise the symptoms of stroke, and 45% fail to act quickly enough, some 25,000 people a year could be dying needlessly, the association said.

Joe Korner, director of communications at the Stroke Association, said: "These survey results show that much, much more investment is needed to raise awareness of stroke symptoms. As a charity we simply don't have the funds to do more than scratch the surface in terms of raising awareness campaigns.

He said that people should use the face, arm, speech test (FAST): when someone is experiencing facial weakness, with an inability to smile or a drooped mouth or eye, or their arms become so weak they cannot raise them above their head, or their speech is unusually slurred, an ambulance is required immediately.