Thousands of pounds of food vouchers have been raised by the community to help people in St Albans, after the appeal caught the attention of newly-elected MP Daisy Cooper.

As well as the £2,185 in supermarket vouchers, dry and fresh food has been donated as well as pledging regular standing orders to the project.

Operational manager Emma Dalton, of the St Albans and District Foodbank, is astonished by the response to this call to action, which was Daisy's first initiative following the general election on December 12.

Emma said: "Having this amount of supermarket vouchers gives us lots of options - we'll be able to purchase food for special diets, for example. It will give us a level of flexibility we haven't had before."

She added: "The cold weather hasn't really hit us yet - but it's predicted soon. Many of our clients will have to choose between spending more money on heating and purchasing less food.

"We will do our best to help in these situations and will work with our referrers to ensure the support is going to those in genuine need. These vouchers will play a key role in this."

Daisy said: "Thank you to the many members of our community who so generously donated to this appeal.

"The response has been overwhelming. One person even donated £200 from a media appearance to the St Albans and District Foodbank."

Any donations of fresh food and seasonal items, such as Christmas cakes, satsumas and nuts, were handed over to Feed, run by the Vineyard Church.

Both Emma and Daisy stressed the need for the community to continue to support local foodbanks, either with food donations at supermarkets or gifting money through standing orders.