RESIDENTS of Malmesbury have been praised once again for demonstrating their community spirit as they came together to help raise money for the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

The crews from Malmesbury and Cricklade fire stations hosted a car wash fundraiser on Tuesday evening which collected more than £1,000.

Around 80 cars were cleaned by volunteers and the crews at the event which was attended by North Wiltshire MP James Gray and Mayor Wayne Jones, who is a former station manager of the Malmesbury station.

Lucy Brown, who organised the car wash, said: “We had a good army of people washing and a barbecue as well.

“The figure I wanted to reach was £1,000 and we did that so I’m very pleased.

“Thank you to everyone who came to help and donate.”

Mayor Wayne Jones said: “It was a fantastic effort and a really good show by both the fire crew from Malmesbury and Cricklade and the volunteers that assisted last night.

“I’m proud of them, the crew here are always willing to rise to the challenge of raising money for good causes.”

James Gray MP said: “It was a great initiative for an extremely good cause.

“Words cannot express how appalling the loss of life is and how terrifying it must have been.

“I was immensely impressed by the bravery of the fire service, the police and ambulance crews who did a magnificent job.”

The money raised will be split between the fund for victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster and the Fire Fighter's Charity.