Swift action by Newton Abbot Leisure Centre staff helped save the life of a 60-year-old man who collapsed after an early morning swim.

As a public session ended at 9am on Wednesday last week, duty manager Jo Boardman was alerted to the emergency in the men's changing rooms.

She found the man lying on his side and not breathing and gave resuscitation. Meanwhile recreational assistant Duane Elliott rushed to get the centre's defibrillator.

As luck would have it, the patient's own doctor happened to be in the building, having just finished his own morning swim.