A DEFIBRILLATOR In Dobcross Is set to return to working order after the phone box it is stored in was wiped out.
The facility in the old red landmark at the junction of Ladcastle Road and Dobcross New Road was demolished when a car collided with it in October 2025.
But after Saddleworth Parish Council made an appeal, the device’s power supply is set to be connected quickly after the phone box was replaced.
SP Electricity North West has agreed to a quick reinstallation to support the local community.
Parish Council Chair Barbara Beeley said: “I am delighted to see the company really contributing to the area.
“Having defibrillators across Saddleworth is really important to keeping people safe – we have seen them being used in the area recently to save lives.
“The Parish Council maintains a number of really valued heritage and community assets – whether that’s the allotments in Uppermill, the Civic Hall, the cemetery, or a number of heritage phone boxes across the area.
“We really put a value on building our community, and this is just one part of that work.”
The project to install defibrillators in Dobcross began back in March 2014, when Dobcross Village Community (DVC) member Alison Labrey attended a meeting to explore how the village could obtain the devices.
She secured an offer from the North West Ambulance Service, which agreed to provide two defibrillators free of charge if the DVC could raise funds to buy the heated, vandal-proof cabinets needed to house them.
BT allowed the Saddleworth Parish Council to adopt both phone boxes – one outside The Swan Inn and the other at Ladcastle Lane – with the defibrillator installed in 2016.
SP Electricity North West’s Mark Mercer said: “We are always looking for opportunities to put back into the communities we serve.
“Enabling a defibrillator to be reinstalled, as well helping to get a replacement heritage phone box, is just one of the ways we are looking to help support the community in Saddleworth.”
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