A Kenton hospice has thanked communities for their outpouring of donations after heartless vandals slashed the tyres and ripped off side mirrors of its delivery van.

The attack on the vehicle outside the St Luke’s charity shop in Kenton Road over the May Day bank holiday weekend left devastated charity workers having to cancel the pick up of stock and deliveries losing valuable sales.

The charity, which looks after people in Harrow and Brent with terminal illnesses, has seen an uplift of donations since the Brent&Kilburn Times put out an appeal.

Staff members and volunteers were devastated when they returned to work on May 2 and discovered the damage to the van which was clearly labelled with the St Luke’s Hospice logo.

Anna White said: “I can’t believe people would do that to anyone, especially a charity.

“I am extremely upset, as we all work so hard to help patients of St Luke’s so they can come to terms with their illnesses, and for families with bereavement of their loved ones.”

Joe Feeley, St Luke’s shop director, said: “The St Luke’s Hospice shops are a crucial part of the charity’s fundraising efforts, raising £750,000 last year.

“Although this awful act of vandalism has impacted St Luke’s in a negative manner through our tills and reputational damage caused by the upset to donors and customers having cancelled deliveries, I prefer to look at the huge out pouring of positivity from our staff, customers, donors and suppliers.

“They have all rallied around to make this negative story a positive one by not being bowed by these acts of mindless vandalism.

“The response certainly makes us proud to be part of the Harrow and Brent communities.”

He also praised the actions of Auto 400, a vehicle repair service based in North End Road, Wembley.

He added: “Auto 400 were amazing in our time of need. They went over and above to provide us with their usual great customer service to get us through the issues of being a van short in a very swift manner and even after this, they gave us a donation to help pay for the damage.

“St Luke’s Hospice shops rely completely on the kind donations of the local people and I would ask that the people of Harrow and Brent stand with us and continue to donate to their local shop.”