A life-saving defibrillator has been installed in the middle of a Hucknall allotment site thanks to funding from Ashfield Council and the Green Active Fund.

The device, encased in a protective cabinet, has been placed at the Wighay allotment site, off Washdyke Lane, Annesley Road.

Allotment holders approached the council asking for support to help them secure a defibrillator for their site after a visitor tragically collapsed and died there a couple of years ago.

Defibrillators are life saving devices that restore a normal heartbeat by sending an electric pulse or shock to the heart.

Pictured with the new defibrillator are, from left: Jake Dalton (Ashfield Council), Coun John Wilmott, Coun David Shaw Paul Taylor, Colin Craster and Paul Mellors (all allotment holders). Photo: Submitted

placeholder image — Pictured with the new defibrillator are, from left: Jake Dalton (Ashfield Council), Coun John Wilmott, Coun David Shaw Paul Taylor, Colin Craster and Paul Mellors (all allotment holders). Photo: Submitted

If a defibrillator is used within the first minute, the survival rate can be as high as 90 per cent.

If a defibrillator is used within the first three to five minutes, the likelihood of survival is around 74 per cent showing that having a defibrillator close by really makes all the difference.

The Hucknall allotment holders group secured £700 in councillor divisional funding, from district councillors David Shaw and John Wilmott (both Ash Ind).

They also secured £1,000 from the Green Active Fund grant scheme with support submitting their application from council officers.

Coun Shaw said: “Defibrillators can quite literally be the difference between life and death when someone suffers a cardiac arrest.

"We’re delighted to be able to help the allotment holders secure one for their site, hopefully it will never be needed but it’s reassuring for those who spend time on their allotments knowing it is here.”

Paul Mellors, treasurer of the Wighay Allotment Holders Association, said: “We’ve been working to secure one ever since the tragic death of a man who collapsed after visiting our site two years ago.

"Thanks should go particularly to fellow allotment holder Stewart Thompson who got the ball rolling early on.

“Wighay is a large site and it’s comforting to know we’ve now got a defib on hand.

"We want to thank Ashfield Council for their support in helping secure it.”

The council has a number of defibrillators across the district including outside the council offices in Kirkby and Hucknall, Brook Street, Sutton, Ellis Street, Kirkby, Sutton Lawn, Portland Square, Sutton and Tesco Express, Huthwaite.