TWO South Lakeland councillors have used their special ‘area improvement’ allowances to buy life-saving equipment for use in their local wards.

Clare Feeney-Johnson and Colin Jones each purchased a defibrillator which are used to give emergency treatment to heart attack victims.

Coun Feeney-Johnson’s defibrillator was installed today (Monday) in the Kendal United Football Club building based at Castle Drive.

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Coun Jones, meanwhile, is installing his device on the outside of a building in his Bowness North ward. In Windermere, the plan is to place defibrillators in all four Windermere wards over a period of time, working in conjunction with Windermere Town Council.

The defibrillators are part of a campaign to install the machines in locations across the county.

If an emergency occurs the 999 service will give the caller the location of the nearest machine along with the key code so that treatment can be administered while the ambulance is on its way.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron said: "This is great news – I’d like to congratulate Colin and Clare for securing this funding. A person’s chance of survival decreases ten per cent every minute that passes without defibrillation, so applying a defibrillator within the first four minutes of collapse means the patient has the best possible chance of surviving.”

Coun Jones added: “I'm really pleased we've been able to bring a new defibrillator to WIndermere. We plan to work with the local first responders to hold some road shows to inform local residents about the use of the defibrillator.”