RESIDENTS in Sherston are being reminded about the dangers of tampering with the village’s lifesaving defibrillator after a parish councillor discovered it had been interfered with.

Philip Cutcher noticed something was amiss with the device when he checked it last week.

He said: “I found that one of the doors had been opened and someone had moved it and managed to knock the light off.

“We’ve had the problem that the ambulance service will no longer give out the codes to people who live more than a couple of hundred yards from the defibrillator because they are worried about people jumping in their cars to go and get them, which is a valid worry.

“They are quite happy for us to give out a code for the boxes to people which seems like a good compromise in ensuring the security of the defibrillator.”

There was no damage done to the device but Philip had a stark message for residents.

“Please don’t mess with them, the life they save may be yours one day”, he said.