A family-run business has celebrated 160 years of trading by donating life-saving equipment to the RNLI.

Lifeboat houses in Clacton and Walton are now home to brand new heart defibrillators thanks to building contractor and funeral directors PG Oxley.

The firm, which has offices in Clacton, Frinton and Walton, says it donated the defibrillators to show its gratitude to the community which has supported it since it was originally established in 1857.

Director Bruce Oxley said: “As well as the business, our family has always had very strong ties with the RNLI.

“The business is now running with the sixth generation of family working in it, whilst the local lifeboat station at Walton now has the fourth generation of our family involved.

“By locating two of these units on the lifeboat stations at Clacton and Walton, we wanted to provide a resource that could be used in an emergency in areas that are popular both with local people and that get very busy in the summer.”

The equipment has been supplied by national charity The Community Heartbeat Trust and is now fully installed in both lifeboat stations.

The defibrillators can be used by the public in emergency situations and have already been used on two separate occasions in Walton.