MORE than £1,500 has been raised to help feed needy families across the Tendring district this Christmas.

A food drive was held last week in an effort to restock the district’s dwindling foodbanks in the run up to Christmas.

An all-day event at Clacton’s Sainsbury’s raised more than £1,500 – enough to help feed 150 families.

The food will be distributed to foodbanks across Tendring, including in Harwich and Manningtree.

The drive was put on by Tendring Council, the Citizens Advice Bureau, Sainsbury’s and Essex Fire Service, with volunteers from CVS Tendring and support from the Harwich and Manningtree Standard.

Diane Boyd, of Tendring Citizens Advice Bureau, said: “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 foodbanks across the district.”