Boots is among several local pharmacies being urged to help save more lives by making defibrillators available in their branches.

Richmond Council has also backed the national campaign with the London Ambulance Service (LAS) to get more defibrillators in shops and businesses across the country.

The Shockingly Easy initiative encourages businesses to fit defibrillators and work with LAS for guidance and support in using the equipment.

Meanwhile, the council has written to all pharmacies and Boots and urging them to join in.

There are more than 10,000 cardiac arrests every year in the capital, or roughly 27 a day, and around 32 percent of people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

However, when defibrillators are available and someone is trained to use it, the chance of survival can increase to 80 percent.

“This is a very important campaign,” councillor Mark Boyle, cabinet member for public health, said.

“A person can have a cardiac arrest at any time or in any place so it’s important to be prepared.

“Using a defibrillator within the first few minutes of someone suffering a cardiac arrest can increase survival rates by as much as 75 per cent.

“By placing defibrillators in public places and training people to use them and to carry out CPR, more lives could be saved.

“There are a number of businesses in the borough, including Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s and Marks and Spencer’s, that have already signed up to this campaign.

“But we know that there are others, particularly those businesses on high streets or high footfall areas that could also be part of the campaign and ensure that defibrillators can be easily accessed in an emergency.

“We welcome London Ambulance Service’s campaign and strongly encourage local pharmacies to join the campaign, get first aid training and fit a defibrillator so they can help someone if they have a cardiac arrest.”