A family-run company has installed a new defibrillator at their trade depot in Soham.

Witham Oil and Paint Ltd, which is celebrating its 100th year of business, has purchased the potentially life-saving device.

Located on the outer gates of their Regal Drive site, their new defibrillator can be used simply by calling 999 for the access code.

Ely Standard: Soham-based family business Witham Oil & Paint raised £10,000 for charities at their 2020 fundraiser.Soham-based family business Witham Oil & Paint raised £10,000 for charities at their 2020 fundraiser. (Image: LUCY WILKINSON)

The automated external defibrillator (AED), which can help save the life of someone having a cardiac arrest, is available to staff and customers.

Nigel Bottom, group managing director, said: “Although we hope to never experience the circumstances which mean we need to use this new defibrillator, we feel that it was important for us to have it available, not only as an employer, but also for our local community.”

In March last year, Within Oil & Paint raised £10,000 for good causes at their annual charity ball.

Ely Standard: Family-run company Witham Oil and Paint Ltd has installed a defibrillator at their trade depot in Soham.Family-run company Witham Oil and Paint Ltd has installed a defibrillator at their trade depot in Soham. (Image: WITHAM OIL & PAINT)

A company spokesman said: “They are easy to use, portable, with clear step-by-step instructions so anyone can use them, from a bystander to a trained professional.

“Organisations such as the British Heart Foundation and St John’s Ambulance are continually encouraging business and public spaces such as airports, shopping centres and train stations to install defibrillators, due to the importance of finding help for someone in cardiac arrest quickly.

“For each minute it takes for a defibrillator to be found and deliver a shock, a person’s chance of survival reduces by 10 per cent.”