A British Bakeries survey has found that more than 10.5 million crusts, weighing 209 tonnes, are thrown away each day in the UK.

The findings show that a typical family household throws away the crusts from two slices of bread every day, with one in five (22%) throwing away the crusts from four slices daily, it says.

Those polled had school-aged children and more than half of those questioned admitted that members of their family do not eat their crusts. Of the non-crust-eaters, 90% were children under the age of 16.

Fussiness was the main reason children did not eat their crusts (46%). Some 42% of respondents used unwanted crusts to feed local birds and ducks.