Primary school pupils demonstrated their life-saving skills at City Hall.

Children from Whitefriars Community School, in Whitefriars Avenue, led the demonstration in front of Deputy Mayor of London Victoria Borwick.

The event was held to mark the work of staff and volunteers involved in the Saving Londoners’ Lives (SLL) school project, which teaches thousands of pupils across the capital life-saving techniques.

Whitefriars School headteacher Chris Spruce said: “Our pupils are justly proud of their new life-saving skills.

“We know that our staff, family and community members are much more likely to survive a cardiac arrest when our youngsters are around and that’s brilliant.”

The school was presented with an automated external defibrillator (AED) which can be used to treat someone suffering a heart attack.

The Saving Londoners' Lives project is run in partnership between St John Ambulance London, the London Ambulance Service, the Mayor of London and the British Heart Foundation.

Project manager Mary Smith said: “We want to see AEDs installed in as many public places as possible, including schools, because we know they save lives.

“By teaching youngsters about the importance of AEDs and equipping them with life saving skills, we aim to dramatically reduce the number of needless deaths which occur each year due to a lack of basic first aid and equipment.”

Victoria Borwick said: “Congratulations to pupils from Whitefriars School for their fantastic achievements as part of the Saving Londoners’ Lives campaign, which has seen nearly 60,000 young pupils from across the capital trained to use automated external defibrillators.

“Training young people in first-aid means they are equipped for life to deal with emergencies.

“Essential campaigns like this one can help improve the survival rates further, and also boost the confidence of young people to act when it’s most needed.”