Damage to a life-saving defibrillator has left the owner of the Workington hotel it is mounted on “dumbfounded”.

Wires have been ripped out of the public-access machine at The Cumberland Hotel, on Station Road, preventing lights from shining on the cabinet which houses the defibrillator and meaning it is no longer obvious when the device is working.

A cable which enables the machine to stay at the right temperature has also been torn out, meaning that if temperatures plummet the device would no longer work.

James McTear, 72, who has owned the hotel since 1993 and had the machine fitted in 2016, was disturbed by the incident.

“It’s the sheer fact that somebody, regardless of who it was, would rip that thing to pieces, for whatever possible purpose,” he said.

“What possible benefit is there?

“This thing has been used I would say once every two months or so; it’s there to make a difference for somebody.

“When I went to investigate I was dumbfounded to find that the electric wire that comes out of the charging point had been pulled out. Because the light isn’t on you can’t tell at a glance that the defibrillator is working.

“That could mean someone ignores the machine and goes somewhere else to find one which would lose valuable time.

“They’ll have to repair it now, maybe with a steel cage to protect it.”

Mr McTear has suffered a number of heart attacks himself so knows the importance of fast action.

The machine was supplied by the North West Ambulance Service and the hotel raised money through activities for guests to cover costs of securing it to the building.

Anyone can collect the machine using a code obtained from the ambulance service and administer a shock with the aim of putting the heart back into the correct rhythm.