LIFE-saving equipment has been installed at a North-East tourist attraction.

The £2,500 "talking" defibrillator could help save lives at Hartlepool Marina.

Donated by Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service, the device is expected to be the first of three installed at the Marina.

The scheme, set up in conjunction with Hartlepool Primary Care Trust and the British Heat Foundation, also includes training for marina staff.

Ray Walker, of the ambulance service, said: "The marina and its shops are always packed at weekends, and the whole idea is to get effective help to a patient as quickly as possible before the ambulance arrives.

"Every second counts in the case of a cardiac arrest. The sooner a patient can be treated the better their chance of survival.

"We are starting with one defibrillator, which administers an electric shock to help re-start the heart, but once the scheme is established we plan to have three situated at strategic points across the marina.

"We have already trained a team of marina staff in airway management and cardio pulmonary resuscitation."