PEOPLE living in Tenbury are being urged to cut back on food waste in the coming year.

UK homes produce on average seven million tonnes of food waste each year, while food waste is responsible for 11 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Almost a third of us admit we throw away more food at Christmas than at any other time, but this year 29 per cent are adamant that their Christmas food shopping will be kinder to the environment than ever before.

Party food, sprouts and roast potatoes are the festive foods most likely to be thrown away, with turkey and gravy close behind, the survey found. This equates to 2 million turkeys, 5 million Christmas puddings and 7.4 million mince pies, being thrown away in the UK each Christmas.

Hubbub has come up with the top tips to cut your food waste this Christmas:

1. Plan ahead – only buy enough food for the meals you’ll be cooking and the guests who will be there, and check expiry dates when you’re shopping

2. Avoid panic buying ahead of the bank holidays – the shops are only closed for three days!

3. If you’re having turkey, choose the size carefully – how big was last year’s and how much did you throw away?

4. Make room in your freezer in the run up to Christmas so you have plenty of storage space and check out Hubbub’s helpful guide to what food you can freeze – it’s more than you think!

5. If you’re short of fridge space at this time of year, take advantage of the cold weather and consider keeping fruit, veg and drinks fresh in a cool box outside, or even in your car boot

6. Don’t overdo how much food you put out at one time if you’re entertaining buffet-style, and put leftovers away in the fridge rather than leave them out overnight and ending up binning them

7. Check your fridge before travelling away from home and freeze or pass on any food that will be out of date by the time you get back

8. Try out apps, such as OLIO, to share food with those nearby, as well as family and friends

9. Remember that food might still be eaten after its best before date – check it looks and smells OK. Food past its best can still be enjoyed in other ways, like a healthy home-made soup to get you back on track after the excesses of Christmas

10. Before you reach that point where you can’t take any more leftover turkey, cook up a batch of stew or curry and freeze it for January