A LIFE-saving defibrillator has been installed to give Thirsk more protection against one of the UK’s biggest killers.

The machine has been installed at Meadowfields, a housing scheme for older people, on Chapel Street, by Housing and Care 21, which owns and runs the building.

It is part of the Hearts and Homes campaign, run in partnership with Hand on Heart, a charity which campaigns to reduce the number of deaths from sudden cardiac arrest.

It will see more than 120 defibrillators placed up and down the UK, with Hand on Heart placing one at a local school for every ten placed by Housing and Care 21.