A lifesaving defibrillator has been fitted outside The Royal Star and Garter care home in Surbiton.

The device delivers an electric current to restart the heart when someone is having a heart attack.

It will be available for the community to use, RSGH said.

The defibrillator cost £850 and was purchased by the charity following two incidents where members of the public collapsed on the road close to the home.

It is placed at the entrance to the home and RSGH said that it would be visible Upper Brighton Road and bus stop near the junction with Langley Road.

The device is designed to be used by someone with no medical training, with an in-built speaker and visual aids giving simple step-by-step instructions to operate.

On one occasion last year, Trainee Nurse Associate and Clinical IT Lead Michelle Nicholls, who works at Claremont Medical Centre in Surbiton, saved the life of a collapsed cyclist by administering CPR and mouth-to-mouth before paramedics arrived.

Ms Nicholls, who joined RSGH as a trainee nursing associate in December last year, said: "I'm very happy that there’s a defibrillator here. It’s good news for the whole community. Anybody can use it and it could save someone’s life."

The life-saving device is registered with London Ambulance Service (LAS), so that RSGH will be notified immeditaley if a 999 emergency call is made within 100 metres of the home, to help with response times.

Chris Hartley Sharpe, Head of First Responders at LAS, said: "Public access defibrillators are safe and simple to use and give people who suffer a cardiac arrest in the community a chance of life. Every second counts in a cardiac arrest.

"It is vital the patient receives immediate life-saving attention in the form of chest compressions and early defibrillation.

"We applaud The Royal Star and Garter Home in Surbiton for purchasing a defibrillator and registering it with us and also for ensuring the local community have access."