A LIFE-SAVING piece of equipment went missing from a York sports club this weekend.

Concerns were raised by members of Heslington Cricket Club after the defibrillator - which was paid for by fundraising by the club and Fulford Junior Football Club - went missing on Sunday, leading to a social media message being shared hundreds of times.

The disappearance was reported as theft, but North Yorkshire Police later found the defibrillator was in possession of paramedics.

A spokeswoman for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service said the defibrillator was removed from its position by paramedics "for a patient incident" as a precaution.

She said the ambulance crew were unable to replace the unit following the incident, but it was safe and would be back in its community location today (TUES).

Simon Desborough, chairman of the cricket club, said: "We're quite pleased and proud about raising money for it, and I think it has been accessed a couple of times before, but never actually used.

"I want to thank everyone who shared the appeal on social media, it was a great use of social media and evidence that people are interested. It was unfortunate we weren't notified, but it was just one of those things, as I'm sure the paramedics were run off their feet."