A SUPERMARKET in South Ayrshire is offering kids free fruit to help promote healthy lifestyle and reduce waste.

Morrisons Ayr, located on Castelhill Road, is set to run out a new scheme that will provide children with free fruit and prevent unsold produce being thrown away.

The initiative will help kids reach their five a day target and ultimately project healthier diet amongst children in the area.

The store plans to prevent unsold fruit being thrown away and expects to hand out around 40,000 pieces of fruit every week that is well within its sell by date. Earlier this year, the supermarket committed to increasing the number of wonky fruit and veg by 50% and the new campaign aims to hit those targets.

The scheme is set to make shopping easier for busy parents and to cut down wastage by providing fruit that is still ripe and of good eating.

Fruits that are appealing to the youngsters such as bananas, apples, pears and clementine’s will be on offer at the stores entrance and the fruit will be replenished each morning by the stores greengrocers who will provide produce that would have potentially gone in the bin.

It is hoped that the Free Fruit initiative will encourage kids to enjoy various types of fruit and provide an alternative to sweets or chocolate and ultimately promote a healthier lifestyle.

Store manager Alan Murdoch explained the wastage that can occur within the store and how it will benefit the children.

He said: “Sometimes our store is left with unsold fruit and customers would prefer us to find a use for it. So we’re putting out fruit - that’s at risk of not being sold - for children to help themselves. It’s healthy for them, reduces food waste in our store and will help make shopping easier for parents.”

Previous data from earlier this year shows that reducing the amount of waste is one of the customer’s top priorities.

Children can help themselves to the fruit as they shop with parents and it is hoped that the scheme will benefit the community.