A GROUP of Malmesbury pub pals who delivered a convoy of desperately needed aid across the Channel after becoming alarmed at the plight of refugees camped near Calais are considering another effort in the New Year.

Three months ago Pete O'Brien, Gavin Jones, Julian Lewis and Nick Pascoe hauled four tonnes of aid to people camped in a ramshackle collection of tents and huts known as The Jungle.

They called for donations from people in and around Malmesbury and ended up with a barn packed with essential items.

After three weeks they had amassed a huge array of goods including toothbrushes, washing powder, shower gel, buckets, ropes, tarpaulins, pots, pans, torches, tents, sleeping bags, warm boots and boxes, along with piles of clothing as well as cash donations.

They even brought along tennis rackets, board games and footballs to help the reluctant inhabitants of The Jungle “pass the time while they wait to see if the system sorts itself out.”

Sadly, the plight of the Calais refugees has not been resolved and thousands of people, including many families with young children, face both a hard winter and an uncertain future.

Mr Pasco said: “We don’t have anything yet planned but we’re keeping an eye on the situation and we may decide to do something else if we feel we can help.

“We are just a bunch of pub friends really who decided to respond to a humanitarian crisis.”

Mr Pasco said they collected so many supplies following their appeal that they ended up giving around three tonnes of goods to local charity shops.

“The response from local people was amazing,” he said.

Mr Pasco added: “We’ll just have to see whether we will do anything else to help the refugees – something, maybe, different to what we did before.”