Northumberland Telephone box to get heart defibrilator

Mr Mate said it was "a beautiful phone box in a beautiful place".

A disconnected traditional red telephone box in Northumberland will be given a new lease of life when it is installed with a heart defibrilator.

British Telecom decommissioned the phone box in Ovington and it was bought by the parish council for £1 in May.

The council was open to ideas on what the box should be used for.

The heart defibrilator, donated by Morpeth Rotary Club, will be in a secure box which has a phone number on it if someone needs to use it.

Ovington Parish councillor Andrew Mate said: "The phone box will still have an important role to play in village life, but only in extreme circumstances."

The heart defibrilator was originally going to be placed in a shop in Morpeth which has since closed down.

Kevin Dunlop, from the rotary club, said: "We purchased [the defibrilator] many years ago as a result of collections.

"I have heard of redundant phone boxes used in villages for a library, but this seems a very worthwhile place."

The phone box will also be used to provide walking maps and local information.

Ideas that were declinced included it being turned into the smallest lap-dancing bar in the world or a vertical tanning booth.