More remote commercial areas in Oswestry have now been boosted by the installation of defibrillators this week.

After Oswestry Business Improvement District (BID) held a course on how to use the life-saving equipment in 2019 with several from industrial estates and ‘out-of-town’ businesses attending.

However it was raised to the BID team that these areas were lacking in defibs so they set about talking to stakeholders across the town to make the improvements.

And one of the new machines was unveiled at Furrows, in Whittington Road – among others – much to BID’s Adele Nightingale’s delight.

She said: “We’re keen to support our businesses and the wider community, so we talked to Oswestry Town Council, the Rotary Club and the First Responders to understand where the ‘gaps’ were.

“We then purchased six defibs to cover these areas. The First Responders have been really helpful in assisting us with the process and in getting these defibs registered on ‘the circuit’ which is the site where the ambulance service check to see where the nearest defibs are in the cases of emergency.

“As with most things Covid has slowed down the project, but we are really pleased to confirm we have now successfully installed four of the six defibs.

“These are located at the following points and all have 24-hour access, seven days per week at Oswestry Electrical and Plumbing Factors (OEPF), Maesbury Road, the entrance to Artillery Business Park, Park Hall, P & B Tyres, Mile Oak and Furrows.

“We also arranged for the damaged defib that was hanging off the wall in Salop Road to be removed, checked over and re-installed on the Morris Cook building.

“We would like to thank all the businesses for giving their permission for these installs and our electrical contractor Nexus Electrics for the great service they have provided.

“We are just awaiting permissions to install the last 2 defibs but are hopeful these will be done before the end of this year.”

BID is also setting up another defib training course to be run in January.

Adele added: “We will be contacting BID members to offer them their place on this very worthwhile course.”

For a map of defibs in the town, head to www.oneoswestry.co.uk/live-work/defib-locations/