Tesco has installed a defibrillator in its Wood Lane store in White City.

The small branch is the latest in a new wave of Tesco stores to be fitted with the life-saving device.

More than 900 of the supermarket's largest stores already have defibrillators - which give electric shocks to the heart during a cardiac arrest - but the essential devices are now being extended into rural and suburban communities.

Statistics from the British Heart Foundation show that over 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest outside of hospital in the UK every year, but less than one in ten survive. For every minute without CPR and defibrillation, a person’s chance of survival decreases by around 10 per cent.

Lindsey Crompton, head of community at Tesco, said: “We are always looking for ways to help the communities we serve, and we know that having a defibrillator to hand, particularly in a rural or suburban area where medical assistance might take a little longer to arrive, can mean saving the life of someone suffering a cardiac arrest.

"This initiative has the potential to make a real difference to customers and colleagues all over the country.

“Since we installed defibrillators in our large stores in May, we have seen two life-saving interventions already.”

Earlier this year a new defibrillator installed at Hillingdon Athletic Club saved the life of a runner who collapsed near the end of a 20-mile run.

Sara Askew, BHF's head of survival, said: “If you have a cardiac arrest in the UK today you have just a one in ten chance of survival. More people could be saved if more people had the skills and confidence to perform CPR and more defibrillators were available and accessible in public places.

“We are delighted that Tesco is supporting BHF’s Nation of Lifesavers campaign by making public-access defibrillators available in all its larger stores. Knowing vital CPR skills and having access to a defibrillator can often be the difference between life and death.”