A LIFE-SAVING defibrillator for the village of Mickleton has been declared ready for use by Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.

The purchase of the hightech medical machine for the village was originally the idea of residents Barry and Anne Metcalfe, who earlier this year set up a planning group with fellow residents John Kinchin and Harj Dhasee, to bring it to fruition.

They made contact with the Great Western Ambulance Service, whose community responder manager Kevin Dickens visited Mickleton and listened to their plans.

He immediately got behind the idea and pointed them towards the Community HeartBeat Trust and its secretary Martin Fagan.

The defibrillator has now been installed on the wall outside the village store, where it is available for use in an emergency.

On Friday evening, handing over the defibrillator, Mr Dickens thanked Mr Metcalfe and his team for their hard work.

He said: “In order to take an idea like this forward, it needs to be driven by someone in the community and the result is evident in Mickleton having its first defibrillator within a month of my first visit.”

Mr Clifton-Brown also praised the group, saying that “one life saved makes the huge amount of effort worthwhile”.

He thanked the group of volunteers who are available to support the use of the defibrillator as a “great tribute to a well organised community”.

More than 300 people attended the carol service which followed, when a collection was made towards the defibrillator fund. The aim is to have two more, one at each end of the village.