Morrisons supermarket has stepped in to help people left out of pocket by the crash of the Farepak Christmas hamper company.

The Bradford company has donated £150,000 to the appeal to help people who are facing a bleak Christmas. Tesco and Marks & Spencer has, meanwhile, donated £250,000 each to the appeal.

But Ann Cryer, the Keighley MP, has urged more people to donate money to the fund.

Halifax Bank of Scotland has pledged £2 million to help families whose Christmas plans were wrecked by the problem. HBOS, which was the banker to European Home Retail (EHR), the company that owned Farepak, said it should help those affected.

A Morrisons spokesman said: "We are delighted to be able to help those affected by the collapse of Farepak in this difficult time."

Trade minister Ian McCartney called on MPs to donate a day's pay to the Farepak Response Fund. An estimated 150,000 people have lost between £27 million and £40 million in the collapse of the Swindon firm.

Sainsbury's and John Lewis agreed with Farepak's administrator that customers who were saving for their vouchers should be able to receive 25 per cent of the value of their total savings.

A group of 30 customers at Branshaw School, in Oxford Street, Keighley, lost up to £1,000 each after saving for nine months. Their last payment was made four days before the firm went into administration.

Despite facing a bleak Christmas, the Branshaw staff this week gave money to refund two colleagues who are single parents.

Jason Patefield, the Farepak agent at Branshaw and father of a disabled pupil, lost more than £700.

He said he was devastated to discover Farepak had ceased trading and his colleagues' money, paid only days before, had been lost.

The Branshaw savers are among 150 Farepak customers in Keighley who have lost a total of £50,000.

The figure was revealed by Keighley MP Ann Cryer's office as it continued to work to help victims.

Mrs Cryer's staff launched an appeal to raise cash from Keighley businesses and people so it could refund some of the savers' lost cash.

Skipton Properties boss Brian Verity donated £10,000, but at the end of the first week only a further £1,000 had been raised.

Mark Taylor, Mrs Cryer's assistant, expressed disappointment that local people had not dug deeper into their own pockets.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Farepak appeal can pay into Keighley Together's account at Lloyds TSB, sort code 30-91-12, account 486091902, or take cheques and shopping vouchers to Ann Cryer's office at 35 Devonshire Street, Keighley.

e-mail: newsdesk@bradford.newsquest.co.uk