Charities attack Tesco rules for evening-only collection of unwanted food

Groups warn they can’t find enough volunteers at night or distribute the food to homeless people effectively

Tesco is facing criticism from “shocked” charities who say they are struggling to distribute unwanted food to homeless and hungry people after they claim the retailer brought in rules that mean unwanted food can only be collected in the evening.

The supermarket group has switched to a new system which asks charities to pick up unwanted food, such as items reaching their best before date, only in the evening when a store is closing rather than the following morning, the charities have claimed.