Residents of Turves will soon have life-saving equipment installed at the local pub thanks to a fundraising effort which has taken just three months to hit its target.

A fund launched in November has raised over £2,000 to buy a defibrillator which will be stored at the Three Horseshoes pub ready for use if someone is taken ill with heart problems.

Melanie Fletcher, landlady of the pub and one of four committee members behind the fund, explained: “Four people have died of heart attacks or heart problems since we have been here in the last year. I don’t know whether a defibrillator would have saved them all, but it might have helped some. We thought raising money to buy one for the village was a good way of putting something back into the community.”

The latest event, a car boot held in the pub car park on Saturday, raised over £170 for the fund with 10 sellers turning up.

Mrs Fletcher added: “The cost of a defibrillator starts at around £800, but we will now be able to buy a really top spec one for the village.”