A COMMUNITY food bank in Redditch has been forced to reduce its opening hours due to ‘abuse of their kindness’.

Friends of Isaac’s Food Bank, the brainchild of Isaac Winfield, based on Throckmorton Road has previously been open 24 hours to support those who work unsociable hours and those who want to discreetly visit the shed.

However, now the team behind the food bank have been forced to close the bank during the night as incidents of overtaking are becoming more common.

In recent months, CCTV was installed to prevent overtaking as some users were emptying the food bank in one visit.

However, this still didn't deter some users and the thefts continued.

In the early hours of Friday, April 14 and again in the early hours of Saturday, April 15, the food bank shed was ‘abused’.

West Mercia Police confirmed that a 27-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man were arrested and have since been released with no further action.

Isaac Winfield’s mum Claire-Louise Chapman said a very small minority of people have been helping themselves to more than their 15 item limit.

“I have never seen Isaac so upset about the thefts,” said Claire.

“I’ve had nightmares about people raiding the shed.

“We have been open 24 hours for two years now, but we had to do something.

“We have around 170 visitors a week now so it’s not fair on people.

“We are testing the water at the minute and are opening in the morning at around 9am to 9.30am and closing on the evening after 8pm.”

Last December, Friends of Isaac’s Food Bank opened their second shed at 1 Batchley Road to cope with increased demand and more sites are set to open in the future.