LIFE SAVING equipment is to be installed in Callington town centre after a collaboration between community organisations, the town council and fire brigade.

Money has been raised for a community defibrillator which will be installed on the wall of the public conveniences in New Road and can be used by anyone in an emergency — the electrical device gives a shock to the heart to get the heart pumping again when someone goes into cardiac arrest.

Callington town clerk Helen Dowdall said: 'Over recent months the council has been discussing what a wonderful benefit it would be to have a defibrillator for the town, so we approached different community organisations to make this a community project.'

The Lions club donated £800 to the cause and the Rotary club £700 and the Callington Freemasons have offered to hold an event to raise funds.

There have also been other contributions including a £20 donation from an anonymous source for which the town council is most grateful.

'The pledges are still coming in so we hope in the future we can also have a community defibrillator in Kelly Bray, as we are very conscious that Kelly Bray is part of Callington,' added the clerk.

Mrs Dowdall said on the device would be covered by CCTV so any misuse or vandalism would be monitored.

There will be simple instructions on the defibrillator and in an emergency, people will be asked to call ambulance control to get the access code.

Town councillor Jeremy Gist said he knew how important it was to have lifesaving equipment nearby, having suffered two heart attacks, the first at the age of 45.

'I was at home and the ambulance paramedics were on the scene quickly and were fantastic,' he said. 'If it had been 3am and the nearest ambulance was 20 miles away it might have been different.

'A community defibrillator that the public can use would be invaluable, especially in a rural area. There are many of these installed in towns up and down the country and they they have saved scores of lives.'

Callington Fire Brigade is also running training courses in conjunction with the British Heart Foundation and HeartStart, so people can learn basic live saving skills and become community co-responders.

Fireman Mark Smith, who runs the courses, said the modern defibrillators were 'foolproof', but the courses were designed to give people confidence in first aid skills.

Once the device is installed in mid November courses will be advertised in the town newsletter and on the town hall.