FOOD will be readily available to the homeless as the first community fridge in the county has opened in Westbury.

The fridge was officially opened by Westbury mayor Ian Cunningham, Kieran Thorburn from the town council along with a handful of town councillors and Graeme Morrison from Wiltshire Council.

Located at the Crosspoint charity centre in Market Place, the fridge will be open each week for members of the community to help themselves to items of food in times of need.

The project has been made possible with the help of the town council, the waste education team at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Crosspoint, and will be kept stocked up and clean by a group of dedicated volunteers.

Mr Thorburn, the council’s admin assistant, said: “Westbury Town Council was very happy to be able to get the Community Fridge launched with help from all involved, this is the first in Wiltshire and we hope that it won’t be the only one.

“Crosspoint have agreed to house the Community Fridge and a team of local volunteers deserve a lot of thanks for ensuring this scheme can continue to operate and benefit as many Westbury people as possible.

Jessica Thimbleby from Wiltshire Wildlife Trust said: “It’s been so exciting to be part of this great project.

“We’re really happy Westbury Town Council wanted to make it happen and that we found some fantastic volunteers in Westbury to run the fridge.

“We’re also grateful to Crosspoint for giving the fridge a home.

“As well as saving good food from going in the bin we hope it’ll help lots of people eat well.”

The fridge will be open Monday and Wednesday from 2.30-5pm and Thursday and Saturday from 10am-12.30pm. It is open for anyone in the town to use, with the aim of helping reduce food waste and help those experiencing food poverty.

There will be a constantly changing variety of foods available, as much of the food will be donated by local food producers, shops and supermarkets.

The new Lidl store is already a regular donor and other businesses have also shown an interest.

A community fridge scheme is also being planned for Bradford on Avon, after resident Holly Taylor was awarded a £200 grant by the town council to set up one in a suitable location.

Money is currently being raised to buy a new or secondhand fridge to store surplus food for community use.

To donate food to the Westbury community fridge call 01373 822 232 or email info@westburytowncouncil.gov.uk