A 94-year-old man owes his life to a gadget after he was left unconscious near his front door, according to his son.

When John Telling took a tumble at the foot of the steps to his front door earlier this month, he could have been laying there for hours.

But according to his son, David, the Carelink Plus falls alarm pendant probably saved his father’s life.

When he fell, John cut and bruised his head very badly and was left unconscious, but his pendant automatically triggered an alarm at the Carelink Plus call centre.

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Staff immediately contacted people on their list of John’s family and friends able to check on him.

Close neighbours were there in minutes and pressed the call button on the alarm pendant.

They were able to speak to Carelink Plus staff through the pendant system and paramedics were there minutes later.

John was taken to hospital and was discharged the following day and is making a good recovery.

David Telling said: “My father was badly injured and could have been left lying there overnight. I believe the falls alarm pendant probably saved his life.

“The Carelink Plus staff are unfailingly helpful, efficient, pleasant and cheerful.

“I can’t fault them. It’s an excellent service and I’m also incredibly grateful to our friends who dropped everything when Carelink Plus called and did such a great job looking after my father.”

John has been using Carelink Plus services for more than three years.

He was one of the first people in the city to be issued with a new device that looks like a normal pendant alarm button but has the additional feature of a built in falls detector.

Carelink Plus is Brighton and Hove City Council’s 24-hour, seven days a week community alarm service.

The device works by detecting sudden changes in barometric pressure and will automatically put a call through to the Carelink service.

This can be particularly useful for people prone to unconscious falls.