‘Waste not, want not’ has been the mantra of many an Irish mammy and one eatery in Britain has taken it to whole new level.

The newly opened Skipchen in Bristol is serving meals made from food rescued from bins.

Rather than charge a set price for items on their menu, customers are encouraged to “pay-as-you-feel” instead.

The café claims that every scrap of food being served at the 20-seat eatery was due to be wasted - having reached its sell-by date or been surplus to the needs of restaurants and organisations.

Teams go out to supermarkets in the city each evening to go “skipping”, pulling out from skips items that have been thrown away.

Sam Joseph, 24, co-director of The Real Junk Food Project (TRJFP), which runs Skipchen, said he hoped to raise awareness of food waste in Britain.

“We take food that would otherwise go to waste,” said Mr Joseph, who lives in Bristol.

“Skips are thought of as a bit of a scandal but that’s just one part of the Real Food Project – we get food from farms, small local businesses and families.

“People who go on holiday often come to us with a fridge full of food that would otherwise go off.
“We also get food from food banks because they don’t use food that has gone beyond its best-before date whereas we will.

“People used to share food with their neighbours but there’s now embarrassment around it. We’re offering a way to stop it going to waste.”