Scores of mattresses to be sent to warzone

Up to 2,000 mattresses are set to be delivered to Ukraine

Scores of mattresses are going to be driven across Europe to people in Ukraine.

The Essex-based humanitarian aid charity Hope and Aid Direct has partnered with Premier Inn to donate up to 2,000 mattresses.

Although the scheme is national, the charity has a Basildon-based warehouse from which the mattresses are loaded onto a lorry and driven to Ukraine.

The deliveries will continue during the coming months.

Nathan Philip, supply chain manager from Premier Inn's parent company Whitbread, said: "When Ukraine was invaded, we were going through our bedding replacement programme, upgrading tens of thousands of duvets and pillows - as well as all of the mattresses across our hotels.

"While the mattresses were at the end of their commercial life, they weren't at the end of their useful life, so we identified an opportunity to donate them to people displaced by the war.

Charles Storer, head of operations at Hope and Aid Direct, said: "We started out with the duvets and pillow sets, and now the mattresses are a very welcome continuation of our partnership, which will help people in unimaginable circumstances get a better night's sleep."