Members of Tranent Belters have been left saddened after a defibrillator was allegedly stolen from the town.

The Belters, a social and charity club, provided three defibrillators in Tranent for public use, including one on the town’s High Street.

The device was last used on November 21 last year but has not been returned since.

After attempts to find the device at ambulance depots in the county, the group was advised to contact police on January 21 to report the device stolen.

Dougie Robertson, secretary of the group, told the Courier: “It is a bit disappointing that it is stolen and we’d like to get it back.

“But it has been three months now and we are not holding out hope.

“It is tracked online when the device is used and it was used on November 21 last year. You are then advised to check local ambulance depots if it is not returned afterwards.

“I did that and asked around all of them in East Lothian. Eventually, I was advised at the depot in Haddington to report it stolen to police.”

Mr Robertson has now been in contact with Police Scotland.

He said: “It is frustrating because it is a potentially life-saving piece of equipment.

“At the end of the day, it is not much use to anyone unless they need to use it so I don’t know why someone would steal it.

“You could sell it on but it seems a lot of effort and a strange thing to steal.”

Mr Robertson said the device would cost about £1,000 to replace and the group was considering what to do next.

He said: “It would be great if police were to find it but I think it is unlikely now.

“We have some money aside so we can replace it if we need to, but it wasn’t planned.

“It’s disappointing but we will do what we need to do. It is important the town has these as they can save lives.

“We meet at the end of the month and I think if it is not found by then we will look to replace it.

“We’ve already had people in touch about donations to help with the cost too, which is nice to see.”