Food waste is expensive both for our household budgets and our environment - Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has said.

With this in mind, the council says Food Waste Action Week is the perfect time to break the habit and reduce the amount of food we throw away.

In the UK, 6.6 million tonnes of household food waste is thrown away each year - of which around 4.5 million tonnes could have be eaten - costing an average family with two children up to £60 per month.

And this food waste is responsible for nearly 25 million tonnes of CO2 emissions so it's impacting our environment as well as our pockets.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, and its waste partner AES, are encouraging residents to be aware of how much food they are wasting and, where necessary, to make sure they are recycling food and garden waste.

Councillor Sav Scalise, Cabinet member for Environment, said: "We can all make small changes which will make a big difference to the overall amount of food being wasted - and with food prices increasing that's something I'm sure everyone will welcome.

"Some of the easy steps include only buying what you need, using up any leftovers and managing portion sizes so food isn't being thrown away.

"Where this is unavoidable, we do have a great organic food and waste recycling scheme in the Moorlands. If you do have any food waste, please put it in your brown bin so it can be recycled into compost."

Other top tips to avoid throwing food away include meal planning and making shopping lists, using your freezer and storing food correctly.

Sarah Clayton, from Love Food Hate Waste, said: "Getting to grips with freezing and defrosting are big factors in preventing food from going to waste at home.

"For the average family with children, the cost of binning food can be more than £700 per year. So Food Waste Action Week is all about being savvy in how we store and then use our food."