A DUDLEY first aid group has hailed security firm bosses ‘heroes’ after they donated a CCTV system to keep lifesaving kit safe.

Members of Sedgley and Upper Gornal St John Ambulance unit, based at Upper Gornal Methodist Church, were left devastated when their public access defibrillator and bleed kit was stolen from its cabinet outside the church building in March.

Although the equipment was anonymously returned, they were concerned it could be taken again.

Councillor Adam Aston, St John Ambulance president in the Dudley area, said: “A defibrillator is used to deliver a shock to the heart of someone in cardiac arrest, it has one use - to save a life.

“It was soul destroying to find someone had forced open the cabinet and taken it as well as a bleed kit donated to us by the Daniel Baird Foundation.”

He said the group was “absolutely thrilled” when security firm bosses offered to install CCTV at the church.

Carl Brown, co-owner and director of Wolverhampton-based Eagle Eye Security UK, said: "My colleague Lee Price and I were shocked and saddened to hear that something as vital as a defibrillator had been stolen for a second time in three years.

“Alongside JMC Secure wholesalers, we were pleased to be able to donate and install a CCTV system at the church, ensuring the lifesaving equipment is monitored 24 hours a day."