The results of a one woman poppy appeal with a difference were presented in Helston last Friday.

Avril Plunkett, who owns Heathercraft in Coinagehall Street, spent the weeks leading up to Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day selling hand knitted poppies in aid of the Royal British Legion.

She created just over 120 of the knitted flowers and sold them for £2.50 each.

They proved so popular she could almost have sold the same twice over, but Avril still managed to raise £305 for the cause.

The money has now been handed over to the Poppy Appeal organiser for Helston, Petty Officer Dave Robson from RNAS Culdrose.

Avril said the appeal was something she supported “enormously”, not least because she has a personal connection to the cause.

Her son Steven is currently onboard HMS Illustrious in the Mediterranean, serving with the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers as an air technician working on the Lynx helicopters.

She said: “It is close to my heart. I’ve been lucky – none of my immediate family, parents or grandparents, were injured, let alone lost, in either of the [world] wars. But I do feel, ‘There but for the grace of God’ we could have lost relatives.”

Avril got the idea of knitting poppies after seeing someone wearing one last year.

Having tracked down a pattern and made a prototype she was not entirely happy, so reinvented it to her own design.

“Thank you to everyone who did support it and watch out for next year – there will be more in a year’s time,” she added.