VOLUNTEERS will continue their mercy missions abroad despite the murder of a British pastor in Hungary, an East Lancashire aid leader said today.

Bernard Cocker, of the Withnell-based International Aid Trust, said he and others were prepared to take the risks in Eastern Europe despite the killing of Pastor Michael Trevor Pollard.

Mr Cocker, a born-again Christian who started out by taking Bibles to Russia six years ago, said: "We have hundreds of volunteers and they all have similar tales to tell.

"Over the last six years I've been mugged four times and been arrested in six different countries.

"We have had lorries which have had their back tyres shot out and been forced off the road in Poland." Pastor Pollard, 62, from Shipley, West Yorkshire, was battered to death and his wife Sovalleare, 55, seriously injured when three robbers attacked them as they rested on an aid trip to Romania. They were robbed of just £50.

Mr Cocker said: "Fifty pounds may not sound like a lot but it is probably someone's wage for a year. If someone is desperate they will resort to any means.

"There are risks but there are thousands of people crying out for help and volunteer organisations are their only hope."

The Trust is about to send out five separate convoys to Poland, Ukraine, Albania, Romania and Belarus.

It has also set up a storage depot in the Montague Street area of Blackburn and is looking for more volunteers, especially someone to run a charity shop in the town.

The International Aid Trust can be contacted on 01254 830111.

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