Supporters of a much-loved tea hut have raised more than £1,250 for those in crisis.

Manager of the hut Bradley Melton and tea hut regulars presented the Loughton Foodbank at St Mary's Church in High Road, Loughton with a further £335 on Wednesday after five months of collecting.

The hut, which began donating in December, has kept a pot on the counter to collect spare change donations to deliver to the foodbank every six to eight weeks.

The growing sum follows a year of support for the hut in Fairmead Road, High Beech, which won the tender to keep the business that has been in Mr Melton’s family for 84 years in January following a seven month battle.

The Save The Tea Hut campaign attracted 8,000 signatures of support in a petition by the community.

Campaigner Paul Morris said the idea to raise money for the food bank originated when the team decided they wanted to give something back to the community after their support.

He said: "we wanted to say thank you to everyone for the support.

"I don't think we will ever stop raising, we have no target and we are  just aiming to donate as much as we can.

"We recieved so much support locally that it is nice to give something back.

"What goes around, comes around, as they say."