STOGUMBER Parish Council have brought in a new defibrillator to help save lives of residents in an emergency.

The parish council felt that due to the rural nature of the village, an ambulance would not able to get to the area in time to save someone undergoing a cardiac arrest.

The new defibrillator cost £2,000, with half of that being donated by the Rotary Club of Minehead and the Quantocks and there were many generous donations from parishioners.

Stogumber Parish Council has now signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the South West Ambulance Trust (SWAST) to provide the defibrillator and training to parishioners for a period of four years.

The defibrillator is installed in the porch of St Marys Church, Stogumber and is ready for use should a parishioner or visitor experience a cardiac arrest.

Some parishioners already have resuscitation skills and the next stage of the project is to train more volunteers to receive resuscitation training.

Roger Andrews, Vice President of the Rotary Club came to the presentation ceremony in Stogumber.

The picture shows from left to right Joe Hull, Parish Councillor, Roger Andrews, Vice President of The Rotary Club handing over the defibrillator, Colin White, Rotary Club, Elaine Watson, defibrillator working party and Ron Sharpe, working party and Rotary Club member.