A BOWLING club in Little Lever is hoping to save lives after raising enough money to buy its first-ever defibrillator.

Mytham Park Veterans Bowling Club bought the machine, which gives a shock to help restart hearts, for £650 after its members chipped in to help raise the cash needed.

The club, which mainly attracts bowlers over the age of 60, plays in the Farnworth and District Veterans League.

One of its members died from a heart attack on the club's bowling green nine years ago. And in June, a bowler's life was saved at the Bradford Street Park Veterans Bowling Club in Farnworth thanks to the use of a defibrillator by fellow players on the green.

Phyllis Crowshaw, secretary of Mytham Park Veterans Bowling Club, said that while the club hopes to will never have to use the defibrillator, it is well prepared if a player or spectator suffers a heart attack.

Mrs Crowshaw, aged 73, of Little Lever, said: "I was playing on the same field as the gentleman who died nine years ago and it was a huge shock to us all.

"We are very pleased to have bought a new defibrillator. "It has brought it home to a lot of people that one day something could happen to them.

"It's vital that we have a defibrillator, because we never know when we could need one. "We hope we will never need it, but we have got it there if we do."

Club members received training on how to use the defibrillator last week.