A park could become the city's first to contain a defibrillator after the local community raised more than £2,000 towards the scheme.

Eastern Daily Press: Judith Lubbock, a Norwich city councillor, has submitted the application for the defibrillator. Pic: SubmittedJudith Lubbock, a Norwich city councillor, has submitted the application for the defibrillator. Pic: Submitted (Image: Submitted)

Officers at Norwich City Council are set to decide an application by Judith Lubbock, a city councillor, for a defibrillator to be installed at Eaton Park.

The equipment would be placed on one of the four pavilions that make up the park's rotunda, within which the bandstand is situated.

Eaton Park hosts adult and youth football matches as well as Parkun on Saturday mornings.

There are also tennis courts, pitch and putt, and Crazy Golf.

A defibrillator is a device that gives a high energy electric shock to the heart through the chest wall to someone who is in cardiac arrest.

Mrs Lubbock, a Liberal Democrat councillor who is also vice chairman of Friends of Eaton Park, said: 'A defibrillator is a piece of life-saving equipment.

'The park attracts people of all ages in huge numbers. It's the crucial minutes after a heart attack that can determine if a person's life is saved.'

She said she expected more defibrillators to be installed across the city's parks in the future.

The idea was first raised last spring and an appeal for donations was issued via the local newsletter for Eaton, known as 'Focus'.

That resulted in a member of the public giving £2,000 towards the project - virtually the entire cost of a defibrillator.

And Parkrun organisers contributed £500, which will be used to pay for the installation.

Mrs Lubbock said she hopes council officers will decide the application in 'the next couple of weeks'.

The application has taken a little longer than first anticipated because the pavilion in the park is a listed building.

If council officers approve the application then anyone will have access to the defibrillator - once it is installed - when they need it.

A person dialling 999 will be told by a 999 operator how to work the machine, which will only respond if it can't detect a patient's heartbeat.

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