A DEFIBRILLATOR is to be placed in a town centre after it was donated by a charity.

Campaigner Dorothy Lord, who is a councillor for Colne, said she was delighted the machine would be available in case of emergency.

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She was offered the defibrillator by the PPB CFR Group, a team of volunteers trained by North West Ambulance Service to attend life threatening emergencies before the arrival of an emergency ambulance.

Coun Lord, who has suffered a heart attack herself, said was absolutely delighted to accept it.

"We want the defibrillator to be accessible 24 hours a day," she said.

"I am over my heart attack now, but I could have been anywhere when it happened, maybe even in Colne town centre.

"I was at work and it just came on in a flash and there was no defibrillator.

"Fortunately I was fine, but hopefully this will save people's lives should it happen when they're in the town."

Public access defibrillators are often found in public spaces like local shopping centres, gyms, train stations or village halls.

The machines are kept in a briefcase-sized box on the wall and are available for anyone to use on someone who is suffering a cardiac arrest.

Colne's defibrillator was donated by a friend of Coun Lord who is trained as a first responder who told her there was a spare one available free of charge.

It will be placed on a wall in a central location, although it has not yet been decided exactly where.

Coun Lord, who works in supported living, said: "There is still some work to be done.

"We have got to buy a box for the defibrillator, although two members of the public have already offered some funding.

"I would think it will cost a few hundred pounds because it has to be very secure and I also believe it has to be wired up to the electrics.

"What is important is that it will be right in the centre of Colne and it is great for the town that we have been offered one."

Other East Lancashire towns also have access to defibrillators including one in a phone box in Market Place, Clitheroe, which was unveiled by the town mayor Coun Val Cooper earlier this year.

Each of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s 65 fire engines now also carry a life-saving defibrillator.