More than 180,000 meals have been donated to charities and community groups by Tesco stores across the county.

The supermarkets in Folkestone, Ashford, Broadstairs, Whitstable, Faversham, Tenterden and Gillingham all provide free surplus food to local causes.

The scheme, which is run in conjunction with charity FareShare, has been operating for the last four years.

Over that period, the chain has donated more than 36 million meals and 7,000 groups have signed up to benefit.

FareShare chief executive Lindsay Boswell said: “The food that Tesco donates makes a really makes a big difference to local charities and communities across the UK.

“We are proud to have been able to work with Tesco over the past four years to create this pioneering scheme, which is the biggest of its kind in the UK.

"We hope that we can reach out to even more charities and community groups so that they can receive the free surplus food that Tesco is able to offer.”

FareShare fights hunger and food waste by saving food from going to landfill and distributing it across the country.

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