A hotel in Windermere has installed a defibrillator as part of a group-wide initiative to save lives.

The Macdonald Old England Hotel, in Windermere, has installed the equipment that gives heart attack victims the best chance of survival.

The group is one of the first in the UK to install the equipment at all of its sites and has partnered with Green Cross Training to deliver first aid training to staff.

Twenty-two staff have been trained in first aid and the defibrillator has been installed at the hotel’s reception desk.

The easy-to-use machines automatically identify if an electrical shock is needed to restart a person’s heart and cannot be used on someone who does not need one.

Macdonald Old England Hotel & Spa general manager Marco Frik said: “Macdonald Hotels’ decision to become one of the first hotel companies in the UK to install and train staff to use defibrillators could mean the difference between life and death for someone having a cardiac arrest.

“We welcome hundreds of guests every month to the Old England Hotel and we felt it was our duty to provide this life saving equipment.

“It can take several minutes for an ambulance to reach the hotel and this £47,000 group-wide investment in lifesaving defibrillators could reduce the amount of time someone who has had a cardiac arrest has to wait for defibrillation.”