A scheme to feed north Norfolk residents in times of crisis is set to begin its work after organisers found a warehouse and got permission for their first supermarket collection.

Cromer and District Foodbank was launched unofficially at a meeting last month, and within days Cromer Methodist Church offered use of one of its halls to store and package the food.

The foodbank organisers have also been told by Morrisons in Cromer that they can do their first collection on Friday August 10 - with volunteers asking shoppers to put one extra item in their baskets to donate to the charity.

The organisation, which is the 195th of its kind across the UK and is supported by the Salisbury-based Trussell Trust, will now be officially launched at a praise event at the Methodist church hall on Hall Road on August 9.

Foodbank chairman Tina Nicholas said more than 60 people had volunteered to help the scheme, which will see three days of nutritionally-balanced food handed to people with no financial safety net, who had been hit by a sudden crisis such as bereavement, benefit delay, redundancy or illness.

She said: 'I shouldn't be surprised, but we have all been taken aback at the support we've received, The response has blown us away.'

Mrs Nicholas has been joined on the steering committee by husband Malcolm Nicholas, Cromer Methodist minister The Rev Sharon Willimott and her husband Kevin, Cromer Anglican curate The Rev David Frederick, Naomi Perowne and Michael McMahon.

Mrs Nicholas said: 'It's been brilliant so far. It's all going ahead extremely well. We've started putting in some grant applications and have received promises of one or two donations, which we can get sorted when the bank account is officially opened.'

The Cromer and District Foodbank team is drawn from various Christian church denominations in the town, but the group is keen to work with people of all faiths or none as the work expands.

Foodbank volunteers collect donations of non-perishable items, such as pasta, tins and cereals, and package them into boxes. Boxes are then handed to people who have been referred to the scheme by care professionals, such as health visitors, social services or Citizens Advice Bureaux. Volunteers will also offer companionship, moral support, advice and prayer to those in need during distribution sessions.

? If you can help, call Mrs Nicholas on 01263 514036 or email mrscnic@yahoo.co.uk.