THE iconic red telephone box may not be used to make calls any more in Belstone but it has found a new lease of life – as the new home for a defibrillator.

A year ago the Belstone Village Hall Committee started fundraising to secure a defibrillator for the village and the telephone box seemed to be a perfect home for it as BT had offered it to the community for just £1 as part of its 'Adopt a Kiosk' scheme.

The committee decided to install a defibrillator due to the active nature of Belstone's community with its many events and popularity with walkers.

In recent years many rural communities have installed emergency defibrillators in prominent positions like the new machine in Belstone.

The national charity Community Heartbeat Trust was established to support communities wanting to install their own equipment.

Rona Gundry, chair of Belstone Village Hall's committee, said: 'Of course we hope it is never needed, but having a defibrillator in the village means that should anyone suffer a cardiac arrest we have the equipment available to give them the best possible chance of survival.

'Thanks to BT's Adopt a Kiosk Scheme we have been able to retain and make good use of the phonebox for the community and with its new paintwork it looks great and we retain this heritage box for the future.'

The main fundraising effort came at Belstone Village Fair last July, when all records were broken and more than £2,000 was raised towards the costs.

With the support of Community Heartbeat Trust, the telephone kiosk has been adopted by the parish council and over the last few weeks the phone has been removed, the box stripped back, repainted and undergone a complete transformation with paint provided free by the British Coatings Federation, including new gold paint for the crowns on the top of the box.

The defibrillator has now been fitted and is available for anyone to use should it be needed.

The lightweight unit, once opened, guides the user with step by step voice instructions through the actions that are needed, identifying if a shock is required and ensuring it can be used effectively in any situation.

Any community considering whether it may be able to fit its own defibrillator can get support from visiting http://www.communityheartbeat.org.uk">www.communityheartbeat.org.uk