A potentially life-saving defibrillator has been stolen from inside an old red phone box in Bromsgrove.

Police say the equipment was stolen from its case over the last few weeks, while drink cans and rubbish were left behind. The phone box is situated on Old Birmingham Road in Marlbrook.

Decommissioned phone boxes are being used across the country to house the units, which give a high energy electric shock to the heart through the chest wall to someone who is in cardiac arrest. A spokesman for West Mercia Police said:

"This is a callous theft of an important piece of life saving equipment. Anyone with information on the theft is urged to call officers on 101, quoting crime number 559s."