A SCHEME offering vital on-the-spot information about a person's medical condition in the event of an emergency has been hailed a success in Ribble Valley.
The Message in a Bottle Scheme was launched in the area earlier this year by Clitheroe Rotary Club following its success elsewhere in Lancashire.
The special containers, which hold vital personal and medical information, have been distributed by Rotarians to the elderly and vulnerable living alone.
They are kept in the fridge and special Green Cross stickers are placed on living room windows and fridge doors alerting the emergency services of their presence.
The emergency services can then retrieve the containers and give life-saving treatment, such as administering vital medication.
Clitheroe Rotary Club spokesman Jeff Riding said: "The containers are given to the old, ill and vulnerable at their request and I believe lives have been saved as a result.
"There are 60,000 of the containers in Lancashire and we now have 3,000 in the Ribble Valley. The Message in a Bottle Scheme is part of our community service programme and has been a particularly positive initiative.
The containers can be from requested from GPs, the Ribble Valley Council's Housing Department and Help the Aged in Moor Lane, Clitheroe.
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