An insurance company has come to the aid of a British Legion shop which was targeted by mindless vandals.

Good Samaritans at the Bingley charity shop have praised Sterling Insurance Company, which has pledged to waive a £250 policy excess after a claim was made to repair a smashed window.

The gesture means the poppy shop, in Myrtle Walk, Bingley, will not have to dip into its branch funds to cover the policy and can put the cash to other uses.

The Telegraph & Argus reported last November how thugs broke through the front window and used a tree branch to wreck a display featuring the Cenotaph and poppies.

The branch's treasurer, James Dowzall, said the branch wrote a letter to the insurers which included details of the break-in. The letter asked the Folkestone-based company to consider reducing the excess on the policy.

Mr Dowzall said everyone was delighted the entire excess on the policy had been waived.

"We are all very grateful to the insurance company for making such a kind gesture," he said.

"We simply sent a letter saying that the damage was done by some hooligans and if they were prepared to help us reduce the excess it would mean all the hard work of our volunteers and collectors wouldn't be dissipated in any way."

He added the branch's insurance broker, Illingworth McNair of Bingley, had also written a supporting letter to Sterling Insurance Company.

World War Two veteran Ralph Grimshaw, who organises the Bingley and district poppy appeal for the British Legion, said: "All the members, and myself, appreciate the gesture very much as we would have had to pay the excess out of our own funds."

Meanwhile 81-year-old Mr Grimshaw, who has run the appeal in the Bingley district for the past ten years, said the final amount of last year's Bingley and district poppy appeal had been calculated and a record amount had been raised.

Mr Grimshaw said more than £8,100 was pledged - almost £2,000 more than in 2003.

"It's the best year we've ever had and it has been unbelievable," he said.

"It just shows that something has made a difference and I think people reacted to the break-in in a positive way after hearing and reading about it."

Catherine Hinds, associate director at Sterling Insurance Company, said: "The reasons why we waived the excess were numerous.

"For example the policy holder has been with us since 1998 with only one claim and the request came with a supporting letter from the policy holder's insurance broker.

"Obviously the attack was very close to Remembrance Sunday and if we hadn't waived the excess it would have had to have come out of the branch's collections."