LIFE-saving equipment has been installed at three town centre spots.

Automatic defibrillators have been put up outside Blackburn Town Hall, Darwen Town Hall and in Blackburn Market, which campaigners said would help to save lives.

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They are in addition to those already installed in Blackburn with Darwen council buildings for staff use, as well as children’s centres, leisure centres and schools.

The defibrillators can be used on somebody who has gone into cardiac arrest and no previous training is required.

They will not activate if somebody does not need to be shocked, meaning no further damage can be caused.

The machines have been funded by the council’s public health budget as part of a wider health and wellbeing programme. The project is supported by Heart Town in association with the British Heart Foundation.

A council spokesman said to get access to a defibrillator, users must call 999 and the operator will give them a code to allow them to get inside the box they are kept in.

The paramedics who arrive to help will then take it away with them when it has been used so it can be reprogrammed.

The equipment will also be covered by the town centre’s CCTV system in a bid to prevent them being targeted by vandals.

Councillor Mohammed Khan, executive member for health and adult social care, said: “I find it quite reassuring to know that anybody who suffers a cardiac arrest in Blackburn and Darwen town centres and across council buildings will be very close to a defibrillator. This is a fantastic project.”

Barbara Dunn, British Heart Foundation community fundraising manager for Lancashire, said it was fantastic lives could be saved.

She said: “We’re delighted to work in partnership on this initiative that will see the people of Blackburn with Darwen benefit from this life-saving equipment.”

Cheryl Pickstock, chain of survival lead for Lancashire North West Ambulance Service, added: “Defibrillators can be used on all ages including children, they are programmed to only deliver a shock when absolutely necessary and cannot cause any further harm to a cardiac arrest victim.”