Almost every school in North Ayrshire now has a potentially life-saving defibrillator, council chiefs confirmed this week.

At Wednesday's meeting of the full council, Conservative member Todd Ferguson raised the question of how many primary and secondary schools in North Ayrshire had the devices.

And the council was able to reveal that 47 out of their 48 primary schools, and every secondary school, in the area has a defibrillator in the building.

The only exception is at Kilmory Primary on Arran, but pupils and staff there have access to a defibrillator at Kilmory village hall, which is immediately next door to the school.

Defibrillators deliver a high-energy shock to the heart of a person in cardiac arrest and can be a crucial tool in keeping someone's heart beating until paramedics arrive.

They are fitted with instructions for their use so that no advance training is required to provide emergency CPR.

Councillor Ferguson raised the issue following a Scotland-wide freedom of information (FOI) request from the Conservative Party on the number of defibrillators in schools across the country.

The figures showed less than half of all the schools in Scotland had access to one in their buildings.

Councillor Ferguson responded: "That is absolutely fantastic work.

"The recent FOI showed 40 per cent of schools in Scotland don't have defibrillators, so the fact that we are way ahead of the curve is outstanding. Thanks you."