A NEW community response team has been set up in a south Wight village to help residents cope with the enforced isolation.

Niton volunteers have set up a Community Response and Back-up team, (CRAB), dedicated to helping residents get vital supplies.

Thirty volunteers have come together so far to form the group which, among other things, will help residents navigate their way around the health system and help them access prescriptions.

The services will also help people in neighbouring Whitwell.

The group is supported by a website as well as a helpline that will be going live 24 hours a day.

Will Thurbin, Coordinator of the CRAB Group, Niton said: “We, like the rest of the island, have many older and vulnerable people living in Niton, and we feel it is our collective duty to look after and protect them.

"In the coming days we will be introducing a number of additional services that will support them and the community as a whole. ”

CRAB can be contacted through their website or by calling 01983 730 748.

UPDATE FRIDAY: Dave Stewart, Isle of Wight Council Leader and Local Councillor, said: “It is great that Niton has really responded to the challenge of the virus, helping the community defeat it.

"Local initiatives like this rally communities at such times and make them stronger and more resilient in the future.

"We expect other communities on the island will take their lead.”