Almost six thousand meals have been donated to people in need this Christmas thanks to Tesco shoppers in Ely.

Ely Standard: Ely shoppers have donated 6,000 meals to those in need this Christmas. Picture: ANDREW PARSONSEly shoppers have donated 6,000 meals to those in need this Christmas. Picture: ANDREW PARSONS (Image: ©2018 Andrew Parsons / i-Images)

Generous customers donated the meals to food charities FareShare and The Trussell Trust during the collection which ran in stores last month.

Tesco asked its Ely customers to donate long-life items from November 29 to December 1 as part of their normal shop for people in need.

A spokesman for Tesco said: “We’re delighted that they were more generous than ever with an increase on the previous year’s collection.”

This year, 3.5 million meals were donated to the charities nationwide and since launching the scheme in 2012, 52 million meals have been given.

Jason Tarry, chief executive of Tesco UK, said: “Year upon year we are taken aback by the generosity of customers who give to the Tesco Food Collection.

“We are topping up the value of all the donations by 20 per cent and I am proud that together we are able to feed so many people in need.”