AN unbelievable welcome was given to police officers from Blackburn and Hyndburn when they arrived in Romania with a mountain of aid for desperately poor youngsters and families.

Some £250,000 of aid, which included new clothes, toiletries, bedding and tinned food, was distributed to children at orphanages, needy families, hospitals and old people's homes in the country's Huneddara region.

The trek was made possible by the kindness of hundreds of local school children and local businesses who donated all the much-needed supplies.

Three articulated lorries, a 7.5 tonne vehicle, and a mini-bus made the 4,000-mile round journey. The convoy set off from Hyndburn and travelled from Preston to Dover, and then through France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Hungary and into Romania.

Some of the officers had made the trip before, as this was the eighth convoy of kindness for the Lancashire Constabulary.

However, it was the first time for PC Gail Whiteoak, the schools liaison officer for Hyndburn, who enlisted the help of 19 schools and businesses in the town.

Gail travelled with colleague Sergeant Frank Gregson from Accrington Police. They were joined by Sergeant Stuart Bruce, PC Pete Sculpher, PC Steven Berry from Blackburn Police, along with a civilian vehicle mechanic and four officers from Chorley and Skelmersdale. Gail said: "The response was fantastic. We visited five orphanages, and everyone was pleased to see us. The country is very poor.

"We found a lack of proper food, medical equipment and cleaning equipment. They didn't have the everyday items which we take for granted."

The trek went relatively smoothly apart from a few problems with the lorries.

Gail said: "One of the vans had a mechanical fault, and we had a tyre blow out in Germany. We had to wait four or five hours before we could cross the Hungarian/Romanian border. The officers who had been before said the orphanages had improved by 300 per cent since the previous visit. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I've already said that I'll definitely do it again next year."

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