A kind hearted hero has been praised for his generosity after he stepped in and helped out with a community food waste scheme.

Halstead resident Pete Carmichael came to the rescue when a set of steps used to lock up the community fridge, based along The Causeway, were stolen by petty thieves.

After learning about the theft on Facebook, Mr Carmichael went out and bought a new set of steps which he then donated to the Halstead Community Fridge scheme.

After seeing the fridge low on supplies, Mr Carmichael then proceeded to donate a variety of vegetables and meat to the scheme.

Trustee Sandra Dingle, who received the donations from Mr Carmichael, said: “We need the steps because a couple of the volunteers who lock and open up each day aren’t tall enough to reach some of the locks.

“We put something up on Facebook asking for it to be brought back and Pete got in touch and offered to buy them.

“He came down to the fridge to hand them over and started asking about the idea. Next thing we know he goes off to Lidl to buy items to stock it up again.

“It was a fabulous thing for him to do.”

The Halstead Community Fridge has been set up to help reduce the amount of food being wasted by residents and businesses. Anyone with surplus food still in date is asked to leave it inside the fridge rather than throw it away.

All members of the public are able to take any food left in the fridge free of charge.

Mr Carmichael’s generosity also drew praise from another community fridge trustee, Shirley Diver, who served two years as Halstead mayor.

Writing on Facebook, she added: “He bought two bags of food to put in the fridge, because he didn’t want anyone who came to the fridge to be disappointed.

“Now that is so generous.

“Thank you so much on behalf of all the trustees, the volunteers and the people who are using the fridge.”