YORKSHIRE Air Ambulance will be the first to receive a charity award provided by the Addingham Beer Festival Committee after thieves stole its charity box from a newsagents.

The festival committee has decided to make a contribution to replace the funds.

The collection box was stolen from Addingham Newsagents on Main Street. But newsagent Mark Preston said members of the community were quick to help out.

Customers offered money to replace the donations, and when the beer festival organisers heard of the theft, they immediately began looking into making the charity one of the causes to benefit from this year’s event.

Organisers of the festival deemed this festival the ‘best ever’ with positive feedback on the choice of beers and ciders. It raised a substantial amount of money for local charities and good causes in and around Addingham.