FOODBANK organisers have said they are disappointed a major supermarket has pulled out of their appeal.
Sainsbury's in Dartmouth had initially supported the foodbank's appeal.
And in a further blow, other town stores are refusing to support the foodbank too.
Now the newly formed charitable group has been forced to find a new collection point at the Townstal Community Hall for people who want to donate foodstuffs.
Sainsbury's had set up an in-store collection point so customers could donate food to the appeal.
A Dartmouth Foodbank spokeswoman said: 'It has been disappointing that Sainsbury's have decided not to have a collection point in their store after only five days but we have managed to find a place for it in Townstal Community Hall.'
She added: 'Marks and Spencers have also declined as have Lidl and we have yet to hear from Co-op. The Spar shops said they would love to help but their head office declined.
A Sainsbury's spokesman said: 'At Sainsbury's we're committed to making a positive difference to local communities through support of charitable causes.
'Every store works with a range of local charity partnerships as well as our existing national partnerships, which includes the very current Sport Relief 2012.
'We very willingly hosted the Dartmouth foodbank appeal in our store, however, it was not our intention for the foodbank to be a long-standing arrangement and we are sorry for any misunderstanding.
'However, we did offer to extend its availability to customers in the store for one week as well as offering the organisers the opportunity to run a promotional day, to generate further customer support.'
The foodbank spokesman thanked everyone who had helped raise £115 through a stall at the town's market.
'The money was all spent on food for people in Dartmouth and the surrounding area who through no fault of their own are struggling to buy food.
'We would also like to thank the Dartmouth Chronicle for supporting us from the start. We are lucky to have such a good, local paper that really gets behind the things that matter in our town.'
She also appealed to residents: 'If you would like to start a collection point of your own we would be very grateful or of the local charities, groups or meetings would like to collect we would be happy to come and pick up larger donations.
'Or you could come and join our volunteers at the Townstal Community Hall every Wednesday between noon and 2pm. We would love to see you.'
Anyone looking for help from the food bank can also make contact at [email protected]">[email protected].
Within weeks of being set up the food bank in Dartmouth is helping almost one dozen people – many of whom have been referred to the organisation by caring groups in the town.