SYRIAN refugees living in town are hoping to do their bit to stop food waste and support people in poverty.

In an attempt to help, as well as help refugees integrate into the community, the group Bromsgrove & Redditch Welcome Refugees (BRWR) created RefuJuice - a bottled juice made from apples that would have gone to waste.

In 2016 the group started small, harvesting just one ton of fruit, and picking the rest of the apples to pass-on to local social centres, schools and community groups.

It's the idea of volunteer Alistair Waugh, who was keen to link newly arrived Syrian refugees with the Worcestershire Gleaning Network that he is also involved with.

"For the fourth year running, we’ve worked with the Syrian community living in Redditch and Bromsgrove to harvest these apples," he said.

"We have turned the apples into a bottled juice that we're calling RefuJuice, which we're selling to raise funds.

"There really wasn't much wrong with these apples, some were small, but yet we’ve managed to rescue tonnes of fruit that wasn't set to be picked."

Refugee and group member Maz Salmou added: "Prior to the conflict, Syria was an abundant place for food and farming. Agriculture was a cornerstone of the Syrian economy, but the war had a negative impact on all sectors.

"In Syria people depend on local production to a large extent. We were shocked when we saw literally tons of apples go to waste or rotting on the trees in UK farms."

He added: "Today, we are happy to connect with organisations that protect the environment and stop food waste. It's a real opportunity for integration and to help local farming".

Joining forces with international food waste charity Feedback, BRWR rescued more than two tonnes of apples in November, that would otherwise have been left to rot.

That has been juiced and turned into more than 1,000 litres of RefuJuice.

It is hoped that RefuJuice could one day become a big part of the solution to tackle food waste.

People can buy RefuJuice at the Ecumenical Centre in Redditch, or at Kings Norton Farmers Market on Saturday, December 14.