Christmas donations stolen from food bank

Thieves stole food and toiletries after breaking-in to a container belonging to Cheddar Foodbank

Thieves have broken into a food bank to steal donations made to families in need during the Christmas period.

A container used to store food and toiletries given to Cheddar Valley Foodbank, was targeted between 9-10 December.

Staff said the thieves stole items including tinned meat, chocolates, toilet rolls and a mobile phone.

"It's a great shame. So many people are dependent on food banks at this time," said staff member Elaine Reynolds.

She said that the offenders had "made a mess" of the container at Wessex Business Centre in Cheddar and taken items desperately needed by families in the area.

"We have seen more families that just can't survive and can't cope," Mrs Reynolds added.

The stolen items were destined for families in need this Christmas

Since the break-in the team have been contacted by many local people offering to replace the stolen items.

"We've had quite a lot of food taken, but through an appeal on Facebook, we've had a lot of generous donations and people are rallying around.

"We would welcome any donation as we lost a lot of toiletries, toilet rolls in particular, tinned meat and lot of chocolate which we were putting in hampers for families."

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said the break-in occurred between 00:45 GMT on Monday 9 December and 10:00 GMT on the following day.

He added that enquiries were ongoing and urged anyone with information on the incident to get in touch.

Between 1 April and 30 September, 68,969 emergency three-day food supply packages were handed out to families in the South West.

A total of 14,301 of them were given to families in Somerset, to feed 8,885 adults and 5,416 children, according to The Trussel Trust.