A daily’s backing for a campaign to install lifesaving equipment across its patch has won praise for raising awareness among readers about the issue.

The Oxford Mail’s project to put in place hundreds of defibrillators across Oxfordshire is halfway to its overall target.

South Central Ambulance Service’s Dick Tracey wants 320 defibrillators – which increase the chance of survival for victims of cardiac arrest – installed, meaning no one in the county is more than 10 minutes away from one.

And Dick, senior ambulance service manager at the service, told the Mail its backing had led to 160 already being put in place, with readers in rural communities eager to learn how to use them.

Dick, pictured above, said: “It’s simply because public awareness has gone up in defibrillators generally but also the fact that people’s villages are getting one.

“They want to come along and know about it and try to understand it, and a lot of that is due to the coverage by the Oxford Mail.”

Interest from community groups, individuals and parish councils in installing the equipment has trebled since the campaign began in July, according to Mr Tracey.

He added: “We remain on target to get to 320 defibrillators and I suspect around February or March I will be setting new targets for next year because we will already be close to meeting it.”