RESIDENTS in Tavistock are being urged to show community support to a neighbouring town in the wake of a recent redundancy crisis.

Following the closure of the PoleStar Foods factory in Okehampton — causing more than 200 redundancies in the town — stall holders in Tavistock Pannier Market are holding a food collection for the next few weeks to help keep the Okehampton Foodbank charity stocked up.

Brett Kinsman-Daw, whose mother Karen is running the collection, said: 'Due to the devastating news of closures in our fellow small town of Okehampton we, at Tavistock Pannier Market, feel we would like to contribute to help our neighbours.

'Therefore we have decided to have a drop-off point for any spare tins and dry goods such as pasta and rice, which we could then take to the Okehampton Foodbank to top up their supply. We know Tavistock would love to help and are always very generous to any charity we do.'

The collection will be running until Saturday, March 12. Anyone who can spare any goods can drop them off at Tavistock Film and Music and The Toy Cupboard, both in the pannier market.

The market is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm.