More than 27,500 people in need sat down to a Christmas dinner on Tuesday - thanks to kind-hearted shoppers.

Tesco stores across Dorset asked customers to donate long-life items as part of their usual shop which could then be donated to food charities FareShare and The Trussel Trust.

Shoppers in Dorset gave enough food to make 27,567 meals.

It comes after the Echo reported on Saturday that food banks are having to help twice the number of people they normally do as the Christmas period puts extra pressure on struggling families.

Food donated to foodbanks in The Trussell Trust’s network is given in emergency food parcels to people referred because they cannot afford to feed themselves and their families.

Donations to FareShare are distributed to charities and community groups. They use it to provide meals for vulnerable groups such as isolated older people and those in homeless shelters.

To help the charities in their work, Tesco is once again topping up the value of the customer donations by 20 per cent, providing the two charities with funding to run the foodbanks and distribute the food to those in need.

Lindsay Boswell, CEO at FareShare, thanked Dorset Tesco customers for their generosity.

He said: “The food donated at the Tesco Food Collection will make a tremendous difference to the thousands of charities and community groups that FareShare supports.

“These groups are doing amazing work with some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Thanks to the generosity of Tesco shoppers over the festive season, we have enough long-life food to provide meals to those helping people in need across the UK.

“We’d like to thank everyone who donated, as well as all the volunteers who made the store collections such a success.”

Emma Revie, Chief Executive at The Trussell Trust, added: “Our foodbank network has spent the last month making sure that people referred to them with no money for food don’t go hungry this Christmas. This work has been made possible thanks to the incredible generosity of Tesco customers, store colleagues and volunteers during the Food Collection. Thank you for your support – your generosity has stopped hunger this Christmas.”