BUILDING work has started on a new cafe which will serve waste food to customers.

For the last two years, Refuse has run pop-up cafes at community venues in Chester-le-Street and Durham.

But now, after a £15,000 fundraising campaign, the community interest company is to open a permanent cafe in Chester-le-Street.

An empty shop in Front Street is currently being converted and is expected to open its doors in November, selling only food which would otherwise go to waste with customers asked to pay what they think its worth.

Co-founder Nikki Dravers said: “We are so pleased with this building, it is perfect for a café, gives us room to sort through the crazy amount of food we get every day, and has bags of potential for future use.

“Food festivals, a pay-as-you-feel supermarket, youth groups, upcycling workshops, you name it. We want the whole community to get involved and use it”.

During the last two years, Refuse, part of The Real Junk Food Project, has catered for four weddings, serving three-course banquets to hundreds of guests, proving the value and quality of food that has been destined for the bins.

The new cafe, which will also have a stage for live events, will be open five days a week and organisers hope to recruit more volunteers to run it.

Nikki Dravers added: “Having a permanent café means that we can go from collecting food a few of times a month to every day.

“That’ll mean tonnes more food being intercepted from landfill and thousands more people enjoying it, helping to reduce food waste in the North East”.