ONE branch of the Royal British Legion has smashed its fundraising record...after the community dug deep to raise more than £32,000 for the annual Poppy Appeal.

Residents in Leigh helped the military charity collect £32,468 in just under three months - with even more money expected to come in. Across the whole of Essex, a total of £1.5million was raised between the middle of October and end of December.

Bob O’Leary, the honorary branch and membership secretary for the Leigh group - which meets in Moose Hall, in Cranleigh Drive - praised the community for coming together to support former and current servicemen.

He said: “We are only a small branch. We raised £28,000 last year which was a lot and we weren’t sure we would match it this year, but we still hoped to beat it.

“We raised over £32,000 and still have a little more to come in. It is fantastic, and that is just in Leigh.

“There were concerts, bake sales, coffee mornings and other events to raise the money.”

Collection tins were also placed in shops and supermarkets.

Mr O’Leary added: “Everyone in the community has been so helpful and supportive. There was a two-week collection period when poppies were on sale and we raised a lot then. We collect on the streets and also had help from local army cadets.

“The national total was around £40million for the poppy appeal and I think Essex raised about £1.5million, which is really good. It is all a big help.

“We are really proud of the community, they arranged so many different events to raise money and we will do the same thing again this year.

“Sadly we did have a couple of charity boxes stolen, but we got some of the money back. It is a sad indictment of how things are at the moment. It is one reason that the Leigh Rotary Club kindly affixed security chains, at their own expense, to the first of almost 200 collection boxes.

“The money raised has been a very big team effort. The money helps the military community - those that are injured or need welfare assistance for whatever reason.

l In November, Scott Williams, 35, of Southview Drive, Westcliff, for jailed for a year after admitting stealing six Poppy Appeal collection tins. He was also ordered to pay the Royal British Legion £300.