A housing association has installed ten life-saving defibrillators - including several in Cumbria.

Castles & Coasts Housing Association (CCHA) invested £7,500 into the units, after securing match funding from defibrillator charity, London Hearts.

The units, which are fully accessible to the public, are registered with the national defibrillator network, 'the circuit', which allows 999 call handlers to direct people to the nearest registered defibrillator.

The Cumbrian schemes that have benefitted from the defibrillators are in Carlisle, Cockermouth, Maryport, and Workington.

CCHA’s health and safety manager, Julie Hannah, said: "With these new defibrillators available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we aim to benefit as many people as possible within our independent living schemes and anyone close by that needs one in an emergency.

"We know statistically that early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation can more than double someone’s chances of survival, so we hope that the addition of more defibs really does benefit the health and wellbeing of our communities."