Oakham's defibrillator, located on the storage hut and shelter in Cutts Close, was once again vandalised over the Christmas period, and police are investigating.

In July 2022, the defibrillator in the public park was vandalised only a fortnight after it was fitted - making this new damage to the life-saving equipment even more disappointing for the town council and Rutland residents.

Sergeant Palmer of Rutland police said: "We are currently investigating further damage to a Defibrillator that is housed in Cutts Close Park, Oakham. This is the second time in recent months where mindless vandalism has affected the safety of our Community.

"Defibrillators are such an important tool in Life Saving and research shows that deploying a defib within 3-5 minutes of collapse can produce survival rates as high as 50-70%.

"Further to this, for every minute delay in deployment, the odds of survival reduce by around 10%.

"Please could I encourage families to speak with youths, that attend Cutts Close to use the playground equipment, to see if anything has been seen regarding this damage and to promote the above message about the importance of keeping these in service.

"I would like to hope that everyone would wish for their own loved ones to receive the most adequate treatment in case of any emergency, and these will do just that!"

Oakham's new defibrillator shortly after it had been fitted at Cutts Close

The vandalised equipment has since been repaired.

Oakham has other defibrillators located at:

• Rutland County Council Offices
• Citizens Advice Bureau
• Oakham's Tesco store
• 2 Dean's Street
• Rutland Laundry

Other defibrillator locations can be found on the National Defibrillator Network - The Circuit, hosted by the British Heart Foundation.

Alternatively, call 999, inform the call handler of your location, and they will let you know the location of your closest defibrillator.

You can find out how to use this life-saving device here.