A VITAL piece of lifesaving equipment has gone missing in Inverkeithing, with fears that it could have been stolen rising. 

The defibrillator outside the Stephens on Hillend Road has been missing for almost a month now and the Inverkeithing Community Council are beginning to fear that it has been taken.

Police have confirmed that they are aware the defibrillator is "missing" and are checking with the Scottish Ambulance Service as part of their investigation.

Helen Doig, the chair of the community council, told the Press: "This is the second time that we’ve had a defibrillator stolen, we had one stolen last October and we paid through our insurance and got a new one that was put in situ in May and that's it been stolen.  

"The previous one, the cabinet was open 24/7 and they didn't need to have an access code but this time we thought we would make it a bit more secure with an access code. Unfortunately, it hasn't made any difference. 

"I'm assuming they phoned up, got the access code and managed to open up the defibrillator cabinet and take the defibrillator."

The Community Council has been in touch with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) who they say have confirmed that they don't have the defibrillator or have any record of one being needed in the area. 

The equipment is an incredibly important piece of kit that could mean the difference between life and death. 

Sharing the incident on Facebook, Cllr David Barratt added: "This is so disappointing. This looks likely to be the second time this defibrillator has been stolen. It was stolen last year and has not long been replaced by the Community Council.

"It's difficult to underestimate the value of having these pieces of life-saving kit in the community and the damage done by vandalising or stealing them.

"In one incident last year following the theft of the last defibrillator, there was a medical emergency requiring its use. A member of the public went to collect the defibrillator only to find it missing and the cabinet damaged.

"They were redirected to the defibrillator on the High Street, which inevitably took longer to collect and return to the individual in need.

"It's impossible to know if that additional time changed the outcome, but that individual sadly died.

"I struggle to imagine the motivation of anyone who would vandalise or steal these, but I've repeated the story above with the permission of the family concerned in the hope it might reinforce how valuable these are and how important it is to have it returned ASAP."

The defibrillator hasn't been seen since October 6 at 10am and was discovered to be missing at 5pm that day.

Helen and the Community Council held off on appealing or reporting the incident as they wanted to ensure that it hadn't been taken to be used in an emergency and had yet to be returned but as the days have gone on, they grow more anxious to get it back in its rightful place.  

She added: "If you’ve got it, could you put it back now? Bring it back because it saves lives."

Anyone with information on the defibrillator should contact the Police on 101 or use their Contact Us Form, citing the reference PS-20241015-0670.