A charity has had hundreds of pounds of clothes and toiletries donated to it by police, who confiscated them after raiding a house.

Mpika Relief Fund will sell the items from its shops in Keighley and Denholme.

Police visited an address in Dorchester Crescent in Holme Wood, Bradford, on December 17 while following up a lead on goods taken from a number of shops in the city.

Once inside the house, they found two rails full of stolen clothing and a box of cosmetics.

They arrested a 29-year-old woman from the address for handling stolen goods, and she was cautioned after admitting the crime.

Officers of the Tong and Wyke neighbourhood policing team asked the stores the items were taken from if they wanted them to be returned, but they gave West Yorkshire Police permission to donate them to charity.

Officers chose to give the items – believed to be worth more than £400 – to the Mpika Relief Fund, which has stores in Keighley, Denholme and Queensbury.

The charity supports the Village of Hope Orphanage in Mpika, Zambia.

June Martin, co-founder of the charity, said: “We were over the moon when the police came in with the items.

“They had three bags full of clothes for us to sell in the shops, which is a lovely donation to get at this time of the year.

“We think the clothes will probably be worth £400, maybe more. The police could have just destroyed them but they went out their way to donate them to us, which was lovely.

“They are much needed for us because we are only a small charity.”

The clothing will be sold in the charity’s shops on Commercial Street, Denholme, and Lawk-holme Lane, Keighley.