Donations to a food collection will help to feed 150 families over Christmas.

Shoppers at Sainsburys in Clacton High Street on Friday raised more than £1,500 worth of items both in food and money donations.

The event was staged by Tendring’s Community Builder Project with the food to be shared between Walton Food Bank, The Salvation Army at Clacton, and Harwich and Manningtree Food Bank.

Lynda McWilliams, Tendring district councillor for wellbeing and partnerships, said: “We hoped that we would be able to beat the £1,200 we raised in March but with your help we smashed it.

“Money is tight all round at this time of year and people are finding it hard to meet the cost of their own Christmas’s. However, they were so generous and this will make a tremendous difference to so many vulnerable people.”

Diane Boyd, Tendring’s Community Builder, added: “We are very fortunate in Tendring to have a great community spirit and that was shown again.

“It really was a big team effort and a huge success which will be a massive boost for dwindling food banks across the district.”