VOLUNTEERS from Bromsgrove and Redditch Welcome Refugees recently saved two tonnes of apples from going to rot.

The group, set up to support refugee families, joined forces with the environmentally conscious Worcestershire Gleaning Network to save the apples and give them to the homeless.

The braeburn apples had been left on trees close to Hillers Farm Shop near Alcester simply because they didn't meet strict cosmetic standards.

Now the apples will be put to good use by being passed onto homeless hostels, breakfast clubs and social centres in and around Redditch and Bromsrgrove.

As a result of picking the apples, the group has created a bottled drink entitled 'RefuJUICE' to help raise funds.

Member Alistair Waugh said: "We need a revolution in how food is produced and distributed.

"Ideas like 'RefuJUICE' could one day play an important role in stopping food waste. Every year a fifth of all the fruit and vegetables grown on farms in Europe never actually leaves the farm.

"Yet in the UK alone, there are over five million people in poverty."

Worcestershire Gleaning Network, which was set up last year, has already rescued over 15 tonnes of apples over the last month alone.