Defibrillators could soon be placed in two Huntingdonshire town centre.

Huntingdon Business Improvement District (BID) is working with the Huntingdon, Godmanchester and Brampton Community First Responders to investigate where it could place two life-saving devices in the town centre.

In St Ives, a fundraising event on Saturday night raised between £3,500 and £4,000.

The BID board met last Tuesday to agree to use funds from promotional spaces in the town centre - salesmen pitches from Sky and energy companies - to pay for two defibrillators.

Katy Sismore, BID manager, told The Hunts Post: “We are in discussions with Neil Mackie and he first responders looking at costs to buy a couple of defibrillators. We are looking at who can be trained and who is already trained in using defibrillators.

“We’re at the early stage but we hope to get them fitted as soon as possible. We need to know where there are existing defibrillators, we know there are machines at doctors’ surgeries, Luminus and on fire engines, but we need to know if there are any others to avoid doubling up.

“We are here to keep the town clean and safe. These defibrillators can save lives, could make the town safe and make a difference to people.”

The town rangers, which are first aid trained, could also be trained in defibrillator use,

She added: “We have been looking at it as a project for two months. We want to place them in businesses that have long opening hours and are open six or seven days a week.

“We are looking at costs of installing, maintenance and, if need be, relocation. Wilkinson, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose are good positions as they are close to the high street but Sainsbury’s is moving and Waitrose, if they move, it is easy to move the defibrillator. These are the things we are looking at to make sure that they are available for the future.”

n Mathew Setchell’s black tie event at Slepe Hall Hotel in St Ives was attended by more than 110 people, including members of the US military and the Household cavalry.

He said: “We raised enough money for what we wanted to achieve. Everyone pulled together and it all paid off. We are now talking to the British Heart Foundation who will start getting the defibrillators in the three venues - the Local Cafe, the Golden Lion and the Taproom.

“I’m absolutely made up. It’s been a hard 6 weeks but it was worth it. There is lots of good feeedback and people were asking when the next event will be.”

Mr Setchell is hoping to set up an event on Holt Island in the summer.