A PUBLIC-SPIRITED Bromsgrove resident has ploughed cash into a scheme to provide needy pensioners with state-of-the-art personal attack alarms.

Kevin McNamara, chairman of Friends Around You (FAY), an initiative which gives 24-hour support to townsfolk on their own, received £1,000 from an unnamed private donor towards buying the devices.

As well as letting off a very loud signal, the alarms, which cost £10 each, give off a nasty odour and an invisible tracer jets out of them.

This taints the attacker's skin or clothes for several days with a stain which can only be detected under ultraviolet light.

Kevin plans to give the alarms away to cash-strapped pensioners who are on minimum incomes.

They can also be ordered by safety-conscious townsfolk through the FAY scheme, which is based at the Multi-Agency Resource Centre, in Humphrey Avenue, Charford.

Kevin took action after being moved by the plight of Birmingham war veteran George Dale who died after an intruder broke into his Ladywood home and attacked him last month.

He said the alarms are also a deterrent because once it is shown to the would-be attacker it would probably scare them off.

Kevin added: "Every pensioner should be protected and these alarms are the best you can get and can be used in a person's home or when they are out."

To find out more, call Kevin on (01527) 577257.