A fundraiser has been set up for the Hunt family after the Bushey crossbow attack left them “heartbroken”. 

Horse racing broadcaster Matt Chapman created the GoFundMe page today for John and Amy Hunt, after they lost three family members in the attack on Tuesday evening.

Carol Hunt, 61, and daughters Hannah, 28, and Louise, 25, were murdered at their home in Ashlyn Close, sparking a manhunt across Hertfordshire and north London.

Matt wrote he had set up the page with a “heavy heart”, adding: “I am sure, like me, you have been left numb by what has happened.”

The fundraiser has a £50,000 target as he appealed for the public’s help to raise money for the family during the “devastating times”.

(Left) Hannah Hunt, (right) Louise Hunt. Inset: John and Carol Hunt pictured in 2015.(Left) Hannah Hunt, (right) Louise Hunt. Inset: John and Carol Hunt pictured in 2015. (Image: Facebook/Hannah Hunt, Louise Hunt, Carol Hunt)

“This is a special family that has been left heartbroken,” the broadcaster added. “Please give anything you can to show them just how much we care and love them.”

The page has garnered over £2,300 from 42 donations just two hours since it was set up, including a £1,000 donation from Matt Chapman, and comes after the family spoke out for the first time since the attack.

A minute’s silence being observed for Carol, Louise and Hannah Hunt at Newmarket.A minute’s silence being observed for Carol, Louise and Hannah Hunt at Newmarket. (Image: David Davies/Jockey Club/PA)

In a statement released by police, John and Amy said: “The devastation that we are experiencing cannot be put into words.

“We would like to thank people for their kind messages and for the support we have received in recent days. These have provided great comfort to us for which we are very grateful.

​“As you can imagine, this is an extremely difficult time for us, and we need time and space to come to terms with what has happened and start the grieving process. While this is happening, we would ask that our privacy and that of our wider family and relations be respected at this time. Thank you.”

The horse racing community has shown its solidarity with the BBC correspondent as minute’s silences were held at Newmarket and Doncaster racecourse on Thursday (July 11) and jockeys wore black armbands.

Commentator Richard Hoiles made an emotional statement at the start of ITV’s coverage, saying “words just seem hollow and inadequate in such circumstances”.

He added: “It is impossible to rationalise such a heinous, pointless and terrible act in modern-day society.

Racing TV’s Nick Luck also offered his condolences, adding: “We are very much thinking of you John and your daughter Amy.”