A new charity is being set up to help tackle food poverty in West Cumbria, thanks to a new recycling business.

Recycling Lives is due to open a metal recycling facility in Workington after securing a contract to recycle metal from Sellafield.

The scrap buying and processing facility will also open to the public and other businesses from September and create new jobs.

It will also set up the Food Redistribution Centre to support charitable organisations to tackle food poverty and work with vulnerable people.

It will operate on behalf of national organisation Fareshare, diverting surplus goods from food manufacturers, suppliers and supermarkets that would otherwise go to landfill and distributing it to charities and community groups in deprived areas.

The company, which has already diverted 400 tonnes of goods at its Lancashire centre since 2015, is currently in the process of identifying food collection points throughout Allerdale and Copeland.

William Fletcher, managing director, said: "We're really excited to be able to use this contract to create social value across Cumbria.

"The benefits will be more than just environmental and economic, as we create social impact through job creation and food redistribution."

The contract awarded by Sellafield is worth £150,000 and is set to last three years.

Martin Chown, Sellafield's supply chain director, said: " We are committed to ensuring our local communities derive maximum economic benefit from the money we spend at Sellafield. We do this by insisting that companies that win work with us invest to support local growth.

"Recycling Lives has these values at its core and I'm excited by their plans to create jobs and support disadvantaged people in West Cumbria, as a result of winning work at Sellafield.

"This demonstrates the unique power of Sellafield Ltd - able to invest in the local supply chain and attract new businesses to the area."