Marks & Spencer has launched an investigation after it was reported that one of its stores binned almost £10,000 worth of food, which should have gone to charity.
Among the items to be thrown away by the Swiss Cottage branch, in north London, were burgers, whole chickens and fruit and vegetables, including 100 bags of carrots, many of which were reported to be within their use-by dates.
According to The Sun, seven wheelie bins, filled with 3,000 items of food, were throw into bin lorries, before the shop closed for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
A source told the paper: "It's a disgrace so much was thrown out. It could still have been given to someone who needed it as some had two days left.
"It could have gone to feed some homeless people. There is a Salvatian Army centre just down the road."
Credit: PA
Ed Davey, a Liberal Democrat MP said throwing away the food 'when there are homeless people on the streets outside your shop is unacceptable'.
Marks & Spencer has a nationwide plan to redistribute its surplus and unsold food from its stores to local charities, so it's not known why this wasn't the case at Christmas.
A spokesperson from M&S told The Sun: "We have robust processes in place to minimise food waste.
"We are working hard to ensure that every piece of unsold food in our stores goes to those in need.
"Our stores work regularly with over 700 local food charities.
"We're looking into why this didn't happen at our Swiss Cottage store on this occasion."
Late last month, Jasmine Birtles, a finance expert, shared photos of piles of food destined to end up in the bin from M&S's Kensington High Street tube station store, calling it 'appalling'.
The store responded to tell Jasmine it would 'conduct a full investigation'.
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Source: The Sun
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: uk news, Marks and Spencer
