A Winchester deli has been inundated with donations as city residents flock to show their solidarity with Ukraine.

Klaudia Cynarska, who runs Basil Leaf Deli in St George's Street, said her stockroom was packed full of contributions from customers after opening as a collection point earlier this week.

Originally from Poland, Klaudia decided to offer up space in her shop to collect goods on behalf of the Polish Social Club in Southampton, which has already successfully sent several lorries worth of aid to the Polish border with Ukraine.

Speaking about the collection, Klaudia said: “My heart dropped when I first heard the news that Russia had started invading Ukraine. I’m Polish, so I’ve been worried about what has been happening on both sides of the border, and I just wanted to do something to be able to help.

“The reaction has been pretty crazy and people in Winchester have really come together - we only have a tiny stockroom and at one point it was almost stacked to the ceiling with donations.”

Klaudia has been making daily trips to the Polish club to transport all the contributions, where club volunteers packed and sent their last lorry on Saturday (March 5).

The Polish Social Club will now only be accepting monetary donations to allow workers to regroup before starting again from Monday, March 14.

Klaudia will also be taking a similar break as the temporary halt in supply means she doesn’t have the space to stockpile donations.

However, she’s confirmed when it does restart, she’ll once again be offering the deli as a collection point.

She said: “We’ve had an amazing amount of clothes, scarves and hats donated which is great, but the next set of lorries will be for essentials only. We desperately need sanitary products, baby milk and food for kids, nappies, first aid supplies and medicine. If people do give medicine, it’s really important it comes in a full, sealed package as otherwise we won’t be able to send them.

“There have already been around 700,000 refugees cross into Poland, and around another one-and-a-half million are still stuck in Ukraine, so tents, sleeping bags and mattresses are also a great help. Any donation, no matter how small, will make the biggest difference to someone's life.”