A street in Lowestoft joined forces to take part in a challenge to tackle food waste.

Homeowners on the High Street in Lowestoft were challenged to save money by reducing their food waste as part of a month long challenge.

Entitled The Street That Saved - a #FoodSavvy campaign led by the Suffolk Waste Partnership, Norfolk County Council, and environmental charity Hubbub - residents from 12 households were provided with personalised tips and hacks, a free food saving kit, an expert food waste cook-along and a foodie street festival to collectively help make their food go further.

The challenge took place over a month and residents weighed their food waste before and after the challenge.

The final weigh-in showed an average saving of more than £40 and 5.6kg per household, per month - equivalent to £485 and 67kg per year.

High Street resident Lorraine Le Grice reported nearly £26.90 of waste in the first week, compared to just £2.30 in the final week.

Mrs Le Grice said: “We didn’t think we were wasting much food, but it turns out we were.”

Fellow resident Christine Newman added: “We now think more consistently about how we can save food, rather than throwing it away.”

Residents were asked to provide their number one food waste reduction tip that they learnt during the challenge, which included freezing bananas ready for a smoothie or ice cream, as well as putting leftover meals in the freezer rather than the fridge, and measuring portions to reduce waste and avoid eating too much.

James Mallinder, chair of the Suffolk Waste Partnership, said: “The #FoodSavvy campaign is all about promoting simple and easy ways to ensure food avoids the bin.

“The Street That Saved helped the people of Suffolk to show that with some small changes they can keep food on their plates and money in their pockets, and by using our resources better we are helping the planet and tackling the climate emergency.

“In Norfolk and Suffolk 118,000 tonnes of food is wasted across the two counties annually – that’s up to £730 worth of food per household every year.

“We hope that those who took part in The Street That Saved challenge continue to use their new-found techniques to keep their food waste down and their spending money up.”