TESCO'S decision to cut the price of cherries in its supermarkets has been hailed by a Herefordshire grower.

Tesco said the heatwave had brought a "bumper crop" of British cherries, meaning grower have more fruit than they anticipated.

The supermarket giant, which has shops in Hereford and Ledbury, said it stepped in to help out growers and to make sure that none of the cherries go to waste they will be selling kilo boxes at the discounted price of £5 each.

Regular 400g punnets of cherries cost £3 so to buy a kilo would normally cost £7.50, it said.

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Tesco stone fruit buying manager Maria Katsipi said production is up to 15 per cent higher now than usual.

She said: "The quality of the fruit this year is first class with soft flesh, ripe with juice and an unrivalled sweetness and taste.

"We're very happy to help out our British growers and customers at the same time."

Angus Davison of Haygrove, based in Ledbury, has been growing fruit for Tesco for a number of years.

He said he was thankful for Tesco's price reduction to ensure no fruit goes to waste.

"Following a mild, kind spring, we have enjoyed prolonged sunshine, generously high light levels, and little rain for many weeks," he said.

"This has resulted in an abundance of healthy, extra sweet, perfect cherries being picked at peak ripeness.

"With an above normal crop, we are thankful for Tesco's action, which allows us to avoid waste, and to provide more home-grown, highest quality, nutritious British cherries to be enjoyed by the nation's consumers."

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The extra sunshine contributed to bumper cherries right across Britain including Kent, Norfolk, Herefordshire and Scotland.

Tesco said it has reduced overall food waste in its operations by 45 per cent since 2016/17 and is making good progress toward its ambition of halving food waste by 2025.

It said just 0.35 per cent of the food handled across the group in 2021/22 ended up as waste.

It also works with suppliers to make as much use of crops as possible.

Farm Brands and Perfectly Imperfect ranges make good use of the part of the crop that previously fell outside of specifications, and the chain uses special offers are utilised to help ensure bumper crop flushes result in food being eaten by customers.

A Tesco spokesperson also said the firm's food redistribution programmes in the UK and Ireland use apps to connect stores with local organisations that can make best use of unsold surplus food.

They also said the chain provides two million meals a month on average to charities and community groups via Community Food Connection in the UK in conjunction with FareShare and FoodCloud. Since 2016, Tesco has provided over 140 million meals in the UK through its Community Food Connection initiative.