A PUB landlord came to the rescue when a life-saving defibrillator needed a new home in Leominster town centre.

The device – provided by West Midlands Ambulance Service and its cabinet funded by Leominster Town Council – was originally fitted outside the Co-operative on Dishley Street but was removed when the store installed its own inside.

However, Luke Ingram, the landlord of the nearby Black Swan agreed that the original could be put in place outside the pub so that there would still be 24-hour access to a defibrillator in the area.

The campaign to install the device was led by Councillor Clive Thomas, who worked for the ambulance service for almost 40 years and returned to the county from Stratford-upon-Avon in October 2014.

It can be used by anyone to shock a person’s heart back into normal rhythm if they suffer a sudden cardiac arrest and increase the chance of someone surviving from nine per cent to 50 per cent when compared to the use of CPR alone.

There is a second defibrillator outside the town council's new office in Corn Square.

A spokesman for the Co-operative said: "We are totally committed to maintaining defibrillator provision in Leominster and the installation of a new Co-op owned model is to meet our obligations in ensuring it is properly maintained on a regular basis. We offered to relocate the device elsewhere in the community to increase provision.”