Motorpoint has helped to install a defibrillator for community use in the Rosegrove Lane area of Burnley.

The car supermarket, which has been based in East Lancashire since 2000, worked with the North West Ambulance Service to have a public access defibrillator fitted outside the nearby Bailey & Garrett Chemist on Rosegrove Lane.

The North West Ambulance Service also provided training for staff at the chemists on how to use the lifesaving piece of equipment in the event of an emergency.

Business support manager at Motorpoint Burnley Amanda Scott said: “We were speaking with North West Ambulance Service about having a defibrillator onsite at Motorpoint and asked whether it would be possible to also have one for local residents in Rosegrove Lane. The North West Ambulance Service readily agreed and after speaking with Bailey & Garrett Chemist we had it fitted a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully we’ll never have to use it but in the event that someone does suffer a cardiac arrest in Rosegrove Lane thanks to immediate access to the public access defibrillator their chances of survival have just been given a massive boost – which is brilliant news.”

Chain of survival lead for Lancashire at the North West Air Ambulance Service Cheryl Pickstock added: “We’re delighted to have worked with a high-profile local employer like Motorpoint to provide the residents of the Rosegrove Lane Area with a public access defibrillator. It has the potential to quite literally save lives and it’s a public/private partnership that we’d like to see more of in the region.”

The move follows the decision by Motorpoint Burnley to fit its own public access defibrillator onsite. Every year 30,000 people suffer cardiac arrests outside of hospital. Every minute without access to defibrillation reduces someone's chance of survival by 10% according to the British Heart Foundation.