Gum pressed into vital buttons of Oswestry defibrillator
This is the potentially life-saving defibrillator which was vandalised by gum being pressed into vital buttons.
Police have condemned whoever attacked the box which houses the heart-starting machine in the centre of Oswestry.
It hangs on a wall at the Broad Walk, next to St Oswald's Parish Church and close to a local bowling club, tennis courts and the town's main park.
A passer-by noticed that gum had been stuck to the defibrillator on Wednesday morning and rang the police.
CSO Andy Neeves, based in Oswestry, said when he saw the box he couldn't believe what had been done.
"Someone had rammed chewing gum, quite deliberately, over the key-code buttons that have to be pressed to gain access to the machine," he said.
"Whoever did it was putting lives at risk. Because the gum had hardened it would have been quite hard to push the buttons."
The Broad Walk is a well used pedestrian walkway through Oswestry. The community support officer said if someone's heart stopped time was of the essence.
CSO Neeves said the gum had now been removed from the machine.
He added: "The person is just as likely to be someone young as someone old. These machines are absolutely superb and they save lives. I'm in sheer disbelief that someone would target something that maybe could save their life or a life of a friend or member of their family."
