WHEN cafe owner Trevor Bennett next cooks up a monster batch of porridge or a barrel-full of baked potatoes, he won't have to dump the leftovers at the end of the day.

His business, Organic Deli Cafe & Wholefoods Store in Oxford, has signed up to a food sharing app called OLIO which has just launched in the city.

Residents and restaurants can use the app to advertise food that would otherwise go to waste, whether it's a bottomless bowl of spaghetti or forgotten jars of jam hiding at the back of the cupboard.

Mr Bennett, who owns the cafe in Friars Entry with wife Cristina, said they had already passed on fennel, spring onions, potatoes and bread.

He said: "It's a good idea - it's like recycling for food. When we have stuff at the end of the day we can stick that on the app.

"Supermarkets do two for one promotions which are fading out as customers get more savvy."

Food is put up with photos and listed as free or for a heavily-reduced price, and people who like the look of it can arrange to meet the owner at their house, public place or at OLIO's drop-box collection points.

Mr Bennett, whose cafe serves that purpose alongside its sister branch in Botley Road, said the drop-box opened last week and has already had lots of interest.

Tessa Cook, who co-founded OLIO with business partner Saasha Celestial-One, added: "Its purpose is to help homes to stop good food being thrown away. Food waste is absolutely catastrophic."

The app is available from the App Store and Google Play.