A stack of clothing, blankets and other vital emergency items are on their way to Honduras - thanks to the generosity of Oxfordshire residents and businesses.

Vital supplies have been collected from various pick up points in Abingdon and surrounding areas over the past week, to help ease the misery for the inhabitants of the flood-ravaged country.

The items were being packed into nearly 100 crates yesterday in Abingdon before being driven down to the docks at Portsmouth, where they will begin the long journey to Honduras.

The items have been collected by the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the Vale of White Horse, a religion which describes itself as an up-to-date version of Christianity. Robinson's Removals, based in the town's Nuffield Way, offered to transport the goods to the docks for free and, once there, banana company Fyffes will ship them to Honduras without any charge.

The items were collected from points in south and north Oxfordshire from kind-hearted residents, schools, businesses and other organisations.

They include blankets, clothes, tents, torches, food, plastic sheeting, pots and pans, toiletries and even letters written by Oxfordshire children to cheer up their Honduras counterparts.

About a million people in the Central American country have been left without homes and 70 per cent of the nation's crops have been destroyed after it was battered by the worst floods this century.

Susie Howard, of the Baha'i assembly, said: "We have had a marvellous response. Honduras desperately needs these supplies - many of the people lost everything in the floods."

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