THE NUMBER of defibrillators throughout Farnham is continuing to grow, with a new unique addition formally opened by the town mayor on Monday.

Members of the Farnham Hedgehogs sought to purchase the telephone box on Castle Street, after hedgehog, Luke Welvaert, came up with the new possible use.

“I drive past it everyday, coming through Castle Street,” said Luke, who recalled seeing a post on Farnham Rants, suggesting it could be converted into a book library.

“It was a nice idea, but I thought wouldn’t a defibrillator be so much better for the people of Farnham?”

He added that its location on the busy Castle Street – with both homes and restaurants – was the perfect place to house the defibrillator, just in case someone was “over-indulging”.

Luke sought the help of his fellow hedgehogs, particularly Jim Hastie, with the duo working together on the project.

Despite the idea proving to be popular, it took more than a year before the telephone box was complete.

“We had to get planning permission for change of use, and the paint has to be approved by the planning official,” said hedgehog Gareth Jex – who confirmed the Hedgehogs will see to the “general upkeep” of the telephone box.

Many of the team recalled how difficult it was to find the “perfect post box red” as there were “so many variants” of the shade.

Also in attendance at the official opening was Jamie Elstow from Marshels of Farnham – whose company painted the box – plus Waitrose employees Alice Butcher and Abigail McManus.

The team at Waitrose selected the hedgehogs’ defibrillator initiative for Waitrose’s Green Token Scheme, where residents select a charity to give their green tokens to after completing their shopping.

In total, the initiative raised £436 towards the costs of the defibrillator.

Also in attendance was the Mayor of Farnham, councillor Pat Evans, who cut the ribbon and formally opened the defibrillator to the public.