Tesco in 12kg of gift cards bungle for Buckingham Emergency Food

The charity will supply 210 charities with 12,000 Christmas meals this year

A charity has been sent 12kg (26lb) of Tesco gift cards worth £238,000 "by mistake" instead of 23.

As reported in the Cambridge News, Ken Smith, who runs Buckingham Emergency Food from Histon, received many thousands more than his £2,380 order.

The charity sends the cards as Christmas presents for mothers and children living in women's shelters.

Tesco said it was an "operational error" and the correct number of cards were sent out the following day.

Tesco said its colleagues "may have provided a little too much festive cheer" and donated a further £250-worth of gift cards

The mistake affected four other customers, the supermarket giant said, and £860,000-worth of gift cards were sent out in total, instead of the £16,000-worth ordered.

The company said it was "extremely grateful for [the customers'] honesty".

Mr Smith said he knew something was up when Tesco rang him on Tuesday morning, "sounding a little cagey" to say there was a problem with his order.

He said: "I was pacing up and down, waiting for the cards as I needed to get them posted off this week, when a large box was delivered.

"I thought, 'is this a case of wine or a large turkey order?', but when I cut it open I saw thousands of £100 gift cards."

He had been expecting 23 gift cards to arrive.

Eleven lorries will deliver 20 tonnes of vegetables, two tonnes of turkey and 23,000 eggs this year, donated by farmers and manufacturers

Tesco cancelled the cards and Mr Smith received the correct number on Wednesday, while a courier collected the wrong order on Thursday.

Buckingham Emergency Food was founded by Norfolk farmer Mike Buckingham 30 years ago.

Now run from Cambridgeshire, it supplies 210 charities in East Anglia and the north west of England with £200,000-worth of food for Christmas meals, much of which is donated by farmers.

The charities range from homeless hostels and women's refuges to churches running lunches for people who are alone on Christmas Day.

The £100 gift cards are intended as presents for women living in the shelters "to spend on whatever they wish, be it sausages or party hats", said Mr Smith.