Police officers and staff have teamed up with people in Merton to wrap 804 donated Christmas presents for children in foster homes or in care as part of the Met’s Police Christmas Appeal.

Teaming up with Nextdoor, a private social network for neighbourhoods, Merton Police organised a Christmas wrapping day to wrap all of the donated presents on December 15 and 16.

PCSO David Haywood said: “ Merton police have today completed a massive wrapping event for our Met Xmas tree appeal to bring some festive cheer into the lives of the children who would otherwise have missed out on presents,

“Working with local residents invited through Nextdoor, we wrapped a staggering 326 presents to add to our tally!

“We’ve seen a huge amount of support from the local community on the platform and it’s been wonderful to see the locals come together to help a good cause. We would like to encourage people to join Nextdoor and bring the Wimbledon community even closer.

“We’d like to thank all the residents for their generosity and the excellent wrapping skills!”

The Met Christmas Appeal is an initiative to provide presents to children in care, disadvantaged families, refuges or hospitals all over London.

In 2016, more than 500 presents were donated by the residents of Merton.

Nextdoor's community engagement manager Mark Gettleson said: “It’s amazing to see so many Merton neighbours coming together on Nextdoor this Christmas to help local children feel some festive cheer.”