NEARLY three quarters of school dinners in Notts are locally supplied, according to new figures.

Notts County Council said 70 per cent of all food served to school pupils was supplied from within the county.

Councillor Andy Stewart, the county council's cabinet member for personnel and performance, said: "For several years now, we've been actively trying to reduce our carbon footprint, and eating produce that's been locally reared or grown locally is one of the best ways to achieve this.

"By sourcing local produce, we can generate more income for the local economy and, even better, bring schools some great tasting school dinners."

The county council spends around £6 million each year on food for schools, with around a third of this going to local suppliers and those based less than 50 miles away.

Kevin McKay, the council's manager for catering and facilities, said: "The amount we buy from local suppliers has soared in the last year as the take-up of school meals continues to rise.

"Compared with this time last year, for example, we're buying around 185,000 more sausages from our local meat supplier and ordering nearly 3,000 more chickens from our poultry farmer."

Meat used in Notts school meals comes from suppliers including Maloney's butchers in Tuxford.

The figures are a stark contrast to recent findings by the Countryside Alliance Foundation which showed 60 out of 172 local authorities asked knew the origin of their school food.