A life-saving defibrillator will be installed outside a busy Attleborough social club, after the community rallied to raise hundreds of pounds.

The equipment will be fitted outside Connaught Hall, on Station Road, which is used by dozens of sport and community groups, including the town bowls club.

It also borders a play area and Attleborough Town Football Club's pitch.

Funds for the defibrillator, which cost just over £1,000, were raised through a busy bingo night, which collected £400, and funds from the Connaught Hall bar. It was topped up by a generous donation to Attleborough's Community First Responders (CFRs) by the family of a man who was treated with a defibrillator.

Peter Thatcher, chairman of the trustees of Connaught Hall, said: 'I am so pleased that we have managed to raise enough funds to cover the cost of this item.

'As the hall is situated fairly central to the town it makes perfect sense to house the defibrillator here.'

He said that the team planned to attach the defibrillator to the outside of the building so it can be used by anyone in an emergency.

Mr Thatcher added: 'There is a play area nearby and the football team play on the recreation ground and although you hope you will never need it at least you have peace of mind that one is there just in case.'

The Attleborough CFRs will now arrange for the defibrillator to be fitted.

Karen Pettitt, who organised the bingo event, said: 'I would just like to say a very big thank you to everyone who attended on the night and to all the businesses who donated prizes.'

Other defibrillators in the town include that at Attleborough Boxing Club and Attleborough Junior School, but it is thought the one on Station Road is the only publicly available one.

The equipment, formally called an automated external defibrillator, gives a patient's heart an electric shock when they have gone into cardiac arrest.

Do you know of a project to have a defibrillator installed? Email reporter Lauren Cope on lauren.cope@archant.co.uk