A heart-warming tale of festive community spirit unfolded this weekend after High Wycombe dug deep to help a fellow resident in her time of need.

Zascha Friis, from Denmark, posted a message on the ‘High Wycombe’ Facebook page saying her Christmas was in tatters.

After her boyfriend broke up with her two weeks before Christmas, the 23-year-old nanny said she had nowhere to go and could not afford to fly home to Denmark.

And despite asking the group where she could volunteer to help others in town on Christmas Day, the community rallied round to raise hundreds of pounds in a matter of hours to pay for her flight to Copenhagen.

After a message thread with nearly 600 comments, with offers of help and support from across town, she told the BFP that the response caught her totally off guard.

She said: “I expected maybe a couple of comments about ideas of where I could volunteer and the next minute this is all happening. It’s just amazing, and really weird in a way too.

“I think it’s a mixture of things. When I started it, I said about my boyfriend breaking up with me, which is something most people can relate to.

“And with it being the holidays, and me being so far from home, it's Christmas spirit in action, and I'm so gratfeul.

“Wycombe gets a lot of bad press, but of course you only really hear about the bad things.

“My view has definitely changed. Just a couple of days ago I was feeling so lonely, and even though I don’t know these people I feel like I have people around me and there for me.

“It’s frustrating in a way because I could say thank you until eternity but it would never be enough.”

Zascha has been in the UK for four years, and has lived in High Wycombe for the whole period, working as a nanny.

Good Samaritans in the Facebook group, which has more than 13,000 members, went to huge lengths to help the stricken Dane.

Goulam Freed stepped up to coordinate the effort and kept the group updated with lists of contributors.

As well as cash donations, volunteers sorted the flight and even arranged for a cab to bring her back Zascha on her return.

She will now fly out from Heathrow on Christmas Eve to spend four days with her family, who live around an hour from the capital.

Zascha said her mum in Denmark was moved to tears after hearing the good news.

And the popular nanny has already become a mini-celebrity, being lined up for an interview with national news channels this afternoon.

The grateful Dane took to Facebook to try and put her gratitude into words.

She said: “I have gone from being so full of sadness to being so full of gratitude. Your effort has been amazing. I don't know what I have done to deserve this, and I still have to pinch my arm every now and again to make sure it's real.

“I wish I could meet every single one of you and say thank you for what you have done. It means the world to me and I will never forget this.Thank you so so much, High Wycombe.”

Facebook group member, Claire Moon, said the heartwarming episode goes to show the caring side of High Wycombe is alive and well.

She said: “A lot of people slate Wycombe, but this thread has shown what I have always held as true, that the town is its residents and there is a warm, caring community in Wycombe.

“This is a terrific gesture and just goes to show that High Wycombe people rock.”

Zascha said she is now thinking about getting together to meet up with those who donated to try and show her gratitude.