BOTTLES containing potentially life-saving messages are being distributed to thousands of homes this summer.

Members of the Hambleton Community Safety Partnership, who promote the Message in a Bottle initiative, will be visiting villages across the district from next week to give out the bottles.

They will be joined by officers from Age Concern, North Yorkshire Police and the county's Fire and Rescue Service, who will give advice on Pensions Credit, crime prevention and fire safety.

The bottles contain a sheet of information with contact numbers for next of kin and doctors, drug information, long-term medical conditions and allergies, as well as general facts such as the time children must be collected from school or nursery.

They are designed to be kept in the fridge for safekeeping and a label is placed on the fridge and the house access door to alert the emergency services to its presence.

So far, more than 3,000 residents have got their bottles, but partnership members want all homes to have them.

Partnership officer Serg-eant Matt France said: "This initiative provides us with a great opportunity to get out to the people who live in the rural parts of Hambleton

"It will give them a chance to speak to community police officers and tell us what we can do to help improve the quality of their lives."