LIFE-SAVING equipment is making its way to a redundant phone booth in Dursley thanks to the Big Lottery Fund.

A total of £2,175 of funding, which comes from the UK National Lottery, has been awarded for the installation of a defibrillator inside a disused BT phone kiosk in the town.

Located on Castle Street outside the Town Council offices the telephone was once the preferred way to get news in and out of the town but now the phone booth will be resurrected for an equally vital use.

Where the telephone once was, the red phone box will now host a device to restart the heart.

The defibrillator station can help improve the chances of people surviving cardiac arrest in what is considered a rurally isolated community.

It can give someone the chance for treatment in the vital first ten minutes by providing an electric shock to the heart of someone who has suffered the arrest - making the difference between life and death.

Its installation is one of 81 community projects awarded a grant across the South West, with a total of £2.4 million donated across the region.

Dursley’s town clerk, John Kay, said: “We adopted the phone box in the summer, and using our website and social media the most popular choice for an alternative use was a community defibrillator.

“We obtained funding from the Big Lottery Fund: Award for All, at the beginning of October for the purchase, installation and new signage for the phone box. This amounted to £2,175.”

A local resident from Cam, Wendy Farley, said: “I think it’s an amazing idea, I just hope I never have to use it.

“It will make great use of the phone booth, and especially since it’s a red one. It’s nice to see the lottery money going to a good cause.”

The details of the defibrillator's installation will be discussed with Mr Kay at their council meeting on Tuesday, November 1. They aim to have the defibrillator fitted in time for the New Year.