PRESENTS given to a Treats for the Troops campaign will get to frontline soldiers for Christmas, it has been promised.

Last week, it emerged that the Wallingford Rotary Club campaign had stalled after the MoD said it could not handle the number of goodwill parcels being sent to troops overseas.

Now the UK charity Support our Soldiers has stepped in to ensure gifts, generously donated by the public, reach frontline troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At first, Rotary Club organisers considered giving the gifts to alternative charities, like for the homeless, to take the gifts, but one Rotarian, Marilyn Dyer-Lynch, from Cholsey, would not give up.

She said: “People gave the gifts for the troops and I wanted them to get to the troops. Much as they would have been well received by other charities they were meant specifically for our boys and girls overseas at Christmas to show them people here are behind them, thinking about them and prepared to send out gifts to them.

“The Ministry of Defence had refused to take them for very good reasons — the parcels to troops would be given priority and there was still ammunition, equipment and food that demanded extra flights, which could put our aircraft and helicopter crews in danger.

“But I knew other charities made sure things got out to the troops without overloading Ministry of Defence aircraft and I felt sure someone would take them.

“So, some service people I knew advised me to contact the Support Our Soldiers organisation. They came at the weekend and took all our parcels, assuring me they would get to the troops in time for Christmas.

“I’ve just had a phone call to say the gift boxes are in the air and on their way to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It is a very satisfying outcome and I’m sure the Wallingford, Cholsey and Goring area people who gave the gifts will be delighted.”

One woman, who had paid out £55 for her gifts to be sent to the troops but who did not want to be named, said: “I was most annoyed to think they were going to the homeless instead of the troops.

“I make donations to the homeless in other ways. but my daughter and myself paid out a lot of money because we wanted our soldiers to get the gifts.

“I’m so glad it has now been sorted out.”

Support Our Soldiers said 11,956 parcels had been sent out.