A collection for a food bank has been extended to help more people in need.

The Specsavers store on Exeter Road in Exmouth extended the deadline for donations until August 19.

The collection was due to end on August 12 but has been extended to allow more people to contribute.

The store is asking for long-life food items from the public to help those in need.

All donations will go to the Exmouth Food Bank, which was set up 12 years ago by churches to provide free emergency food assistance to individuals and families in crisis.

Tracey Dunn, the ophthalmic director at Specsavers Exmouth, said: "People have told us that they wanted to donate some food items to this good cause but they weren't able to visit us before the deadline.

"We want to ensure that the food bank receives as many items as possible in order to help local people, so we've pushed the end date back to August 19.

"We hope that this will give people the time they need to drop off any items they can spare before we hand everything over to volunteers at the food bank."

Exmouth Food Bank currently supports more than 160 people each week.

Last year, the food bank supplied 3,512 food parcels, feeding 8,195 people.

The demand for food parcels has remained high throughout 2024, partly due to the cost of food, fuel, and utility bills.

The Exmouth Specsavers store is open seven days a week and can be contacted on 01395 277107.

They are accepting donations of pasta, rice, tinned food, coffee, tea, and other long-life food items for the collection.