KIND-HEARTED people in Abingdon raised more than £50,000 for the Poppy Appeal last year - a 16 per cent increase.

Official figures show that the town has donated £52,545 to the Royal British Legion appeal which supports war veterans and their families, an increase of £7,196.

More than £15,000 in notes alone were dropped into one of the 364 collection tins.

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Supporters also tapped their way to a further £1,000 on a contactless machine.

Oxford Mail:

Highlights of the two-week collection saw the the Army Cadets smash through the £10,000 donation barrier, while a single collector raised almost £4,000.

And at the town’s Tesco Extra store, the team of collectors in the foyer raised £17,368 – more than £4,000 up on the previous year.

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Poppy Appeal organiser Clare Oldfield said: “Ten years ago Abingdon raised £20,793. Over the past two years the collectors have raised almost £100,000.

“The amount raised is truly amazing.”