OVER €8,000 worth of life-saving equipment was taken from the headquarters of a voluntary group over the weekend.

Two engines, a generator and an air compressor were stolen from Slaney Search & Rescue’s home on the Promenade – items bought with donations from the public.

It will cost a further €1,000 to replace the locks on the premises as the thieves also made away with the key safe, mistakenly assuming it contained cash.

The incident occurred overnight on Saturday and only came to light when the SSR team arrived for training at 8 a.m.

The volunteers locked up as usual when departing at 6 p.m on Saturday and when they arrived the following morning they discovered each bolt had been cut.