People in Seaton are a step closer to having a life-saving machine in the village thanks to Cumbria County Council.

The village is one of the host communities in the Times & Star Heart Start campaign, with Firth House earmarked to house a public-access defibrillator.

Nearly a third of the £900 needed to fund a secure cabinet for the machine was raised by the Seaton community.

County, borough and parish councillor Celia Tibble has provided the remaining £621 from her county council divisional allowance, provided to spend on projects in her area.

The spending was agreed by the council's Allerdale local committee at its last meeting.

Once the funding has been transferred to campaign partner Rotary, the cabinet will be ordered.

When it has been installed, North West Ambulance Service will provide a defibrillator to go in the cabinet.

Councillor Tibble said: "It's really good. We have an ageing population and a lot of sporting events in the village. We have all the rugby and football groups in the village and athletics.

"We haven't got our own ambulance station and we need to make sure we have got things in place should they be needed but I really hope we never need to use it."

Elsewhere in the village, under a separate scheme, there are separate plans to reallocate a phone box as housing for a second defibrillator. The move would give easy access to a machine for more of the village.