RESIDENTS of a town with a recently opened housing development for older people are set to benefit from lifesaving equipment.

The automated external defibrillator has been installed at Meadowfields, on Chapel Street, Thirsk, and will be available for the community to use, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Affordable housing provider Housing and Care 21 said the device had been provided at the extra care scheme for older people - which combines independent living with care on site when it is needed - as part of a campaign to reduce heart attack deaths.

Kris Peach, director of extra care at Housing & Care 21, said using the defibrillator did not require training, and it could be used by anyone to help save somebody’s life by shocking the heart back into normal rhythm.

He said: “The devices are so easy to use and because the one in Thirsk is in an external cabinet it means the whole community will have access to it.

"Tens of thousands of people die every year in the UK after suffering sudden cardiac arrest and the statistics show using a defibrillator could save many of those lives.

“Thirsk is one of more than 100 communities which will be protected by these lifesaving devices as part of this project, including thousands of our residents and staff and many more thousands who live in the surrounding area.”