VILLAGERS are hoping their new Oxford Mail-inspired defibrillator will save lives.

Farmoor residents installed their public access defibrillator at the village hall last week.

The £1,500 cost of the unit was donated by villagers Ann and Clive Latham, in memory of Mrs Latham’s father Derek Waterfield, who lived in Farmoor.

South Central Ambulance Service commander Dick Tracey is leading an Oxford Mail-backed campaign to get hundreds more public access defibrillators across Oxfordshire.

He wants to bring the total number of devices to 500 so nobody is more than 10 minutes from one.

Mr Tracey joined the first training session on how to use the unit, which 17 villagers attended.

He said: “This is fantastic work by the people in Farmoor; it is exactly what we are trying to achieve across the whole county.”

The unveiling was the product of two years of work by the village hall committee.

It started when committee member Inga Martin was shown a defibrillator at a training session with St John Ambulance and was impressed.

Defibrillators can be used on someone suffering a cardiac arrest, and improve a person’s chance of survival from nine to 50 per cent when compared to CPR alone.

Mrs Martin did not realise at first that the cabinets could be installed on the outside of buildings for use by the public.

She said: “We noticed the Oxford Mail defibrillator campaign and learned that lots of parish councils had donated money to help provide them.”

When Cumnor Parish Council decided that it could not justify the expense, Mr and Mrs Latham offered to cover the whole cost, including installation.

Mrs Latham lost her father earlier this year to a heart problem, and wanted to do something in his honour which might save a life.

Mrs Martin said: “They wanted to commemorate him because he was very popular and well-loved.”