A CANCER patient from Penarth who is spending Christmas alone has spoken of the "overwhelming" support from the community after her Christmas dinner was stolen.

Sue Quinn Aziz, 58, has stage four colon cancer and has decided to spend Christmas alone due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid.

She sent her husband and son to spend Christmas with their family in London, but the trade-off was that she would order a gourmet Christmas dinner for herself.

However, when Ms Quinn Aziz was alerted that the food box had been delivered by DPD, she was dismayed to find out that it had been taken from her doorstep.

She contacted the food box company, Yes Chef, to say that the box had been stolen and to request another one or a refund.

Ms Quinn Aziz said: "I was surprised at how upset I was when the food box was stolen.

"It wasn't just the missing food - it was the feeling that anyone in our lovely town could be so mean.

"And the response from Yes Chef reduced me to tears."

Yes Chef said that they could not send a replacement box because all orders had ceased, although they did give Ms Quinn Aziz a full refund.

They said that they are extremely concerned about the theft and it is the only delivery tha that has been stolen this year in the whole of the UK.

DPD are closed until after Christmas, so it took time for Yes Chef to investigate the incident and give Ms Quinn Aziz a refund, which is not their standard practice.

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Ms Quinn Aziz shared her story online in a plea for whoever took the box to return it, no questions asked.

Instead, the community rallied and offered support to Ms Quinn Aziz.

Food boxes were sent to her and she was flooded with offers of Christmas dinner from strangers.

Local café, The Crepe Escape, sent her a 'grazing box' filled with turkey, fruit and other goodies.

"Having incurable cancer has taught me to to practice gratitude - to be grateful for the good in every situation," said Ms Quinn Aziz.

"But I was struggling to see where the good was in spending Christmas on my own with no Christmas dinner and no sense of Christmas spirit.

"But as the day went on, I was overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the local community.

"The huge grazing box from Crepe Escape bowled me over!

"I have received Christmas dinner offers from over 30 people - mostly strangers.

"I've encountered huge kindness and support.

"Thank you to everyone - I feel so grateful - and so lucky.

"My faith in human nature and the Christmas spirit has been restored".