A PUB has been flooded with donations for the Afghanistan refugee crisis after making an appeal.

The Rishton Arms on Station Road in Rishton was accepting donations today and will also be accepting deliveries tomorrow (Tues).

Iona Mifsud, daughter of the pub’s landlord, said The Rishton Arms team felt obliged to act after photos of the Afghans' desperation have emerged in the media.

Posting to Facebook, Iona showed a picture of an Afghan baby being passed over a barbed wire fence and wrote: “Regardless of your political opinions, this photo (among many) has absolutely shocked the world.

“I won’t go into our reasons behind us wanting to help, because I don’t want to start a political debate. But we are here to help.

“On Monday if anyone has any clothes, toys, prams, baby equipment, toiletries ANYTHING we will be accepting donations & on Monday evening / Tuesday Morning they will be delivered to the appropriate charity.

“Please feel free to share - we will be open from 12pm and I will be there all day with free light refreshments."

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, Iona said: “It was the picture of the baby being put over the barbed wire that really touched a nerve with me.

“We thought ‘what can we do to help? We need to help and pull together’.

“We want to make sure people who are arriving in England have things that will make them comfortable – they will only have the shirts on their backs.”

Iona and the team have only been accepting donations for a matter of hours but have already been flooded with deliveries and donations.

Iona said: “It’s 12:40 and we’ve filled the pool room. There are people driving to us now – I can see them all down the road.”

She added that “anything you can dream of” has been donated, even a microwave.

Iona said she is also ringing around some local charities to see if they can come down and pick some things up.

Ms Mifsud added: “I’m here all day and night and I think it’s going to keep going.”

They also have some hot drinks and snacks laid out as a thank you to anyone who donates.

Iona added: “I want to say a massive thank you to the community for pulling together.

“There’s been a lot of criticism and racist comments out there and we want people who are coming over to know we are a nice community and here to help.”

If you want to donate, The Rishton Arms can be found at the following address: Station Road, Rishton, BB1 4HF.