GENEROUS shoppers have donated more than 1,400 presents to underprivil-eged children across Hyndburn as part of three charity toy appeals.

Accrington Rotary Club, Accrington Lions, and the Salvation Army have all been collecting toys and games in the foyer of the Asda store, in Hyndburn Road, since the start of December.

And despite thieves making off with a trolley full of gifts at the start of the appeal, the groups have seen record numbers of donations.

The Rotary Club will be able to distribute 1,200 toys and games on Christmas Eve after shoppers left gifts under a special tree set up in the store.

Club member Alistair Symons said: "The tree was decorated with gift tags, rather than baubles. Each tag had the age and gender of a child on it and the shoppers took them away and then returned them with a relevant gift attached."

He added: "Around 120 children who would otherwise not have a very happy Christmas will now receive presents. The generosity of the public this year has been amazing. We have been running a toy appeal for 20 years and each year it gets better and better."

Accrington Lions suffered an early setback to their toy appeal when their customised trolley was wheeled away by a thief.

However, the trolley was soon refilled. The group has dispatched more than 150 presents to children across the borough. Organiser Peter Hopwood said: "We have had some fantastic gifts donated, both in the trolley and from local churches' toy services. We even had bikes donated to us. There will definitely be more smiling faces on Christmas Day now."

The Salvation Army collected 60 gifts during its appeal.

Louise Ashton, of Accrington Asda's events team, said: "We have been really pleased to help out and have been overwhelmed by the response of our shoppers."