Residents of a homeless shelter in Cricklewood got a sweet surprise with a big donation of cakes.

A car drew up to Ashford Place in Ashford Road, loaded with cakes from nearby Mulberry House School in West Hampstead.

Staff held a Macmillan charity coffee morning at the school were left with surplus treats which they didn’t want to see go to waste.

Julia Kirwan, head teacher of the independent school in Minster Road, which has a secondary building in Shoot-up Hill, said: “We had so many left over we wanted to give it to a local charity and the Salvation Army recommended Ashford Place.

“We didn’t realise it was so close to us so we gave all the residents a massive sugar rush on that Friday afternoon.”

The haul included a range of egg free cakes from parents’ home countries including Scandinavia and India.

Ms Kirwin added: “Because we have very small children we have to be careful of allergies so they were egg free. There was something for everyone. We’ll definitely do it again, they were such a lovely group of people.”

Danny Maher, chief executive officer of Ashford Place, said: “It was sweet of them to think about us. It was unusual and different and very unexpected. It was all well intentioned as our homeless clients really enjoyed them.”