Community chips in after farmer's potatoes stolen

Farmer John Hardy has had 218 bags of potatoes stolen despite an honesty box for people to pay for them

A Lincolnshire farmer who has had hundreds of pounds worth of potatoes stolen says he is "extremely grateful" for the support he has received.

John Hardy, 71, set up an honesty box at his farm near Boston for the public to buy his produce, but 218 bags of the vegetable went unpaid for.

The local community then set up an online funding page to reimburse the money which was lost, raising £510.

Mr Hardy said: “Thank you to the honest people."

However, although the online appeal has seen fewer bags stolen, the issue has not stopped entirely and 20 bags have been unpaid for since the start of July.

“The money does add up, so I feel lucky less bags are being taken,” he said.

Josephine Allen set up an online appeal to help Mr Hardy

Local resident Josephine Allen, 43, set up the online appeal to raise funds.

She said she wanted to “restore some faith in humanity” by helping Mr Hardy.

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