Oldham Tesco shoppers have been praised as some of the most "generous ever" in the supermarket's ambition to support food banks and local charities.

Despite a tough year and the cost-of-living crisis, Tesco said tens of thousands of customers across Greater Manchester have been filling its donation banks as part of its December food collection project.

The figures reveal 29,473 meals were donated in Manchester, 24,709 from Salford, 3,351 from Bury, 2,201 from Bolton and 2,957 from Rochdale.

A further 2,957 came from Oldhamers and went towards Tesco's wider 2.4 million food collection support this month.

Throughout the year, Tesco shoppers donated the equivalent of 12.5 million meals to the Trussell Trust and FareShare, of which 126,344 came from Manchester, 34,285 from Salford, 38,354 from Bury, 12,981 from Bolton, 14,969 from Rochdale and 6,390 from Oldham.

The donations have helped food banks to provide emergency food parcels to people in crisis and support thousands of frontline local charities across the country.

Tesco UK and Northern Ireland CEO, Jason Tarry, said the surge in donations which rose 53 per cent from last year is attributed to the generosity of customers and the supermarket's ambition.

Mr Tarry said: "Our customers have always amazed us with their generosity, this year more than ever.

"We know that household budgets are very stretched, but our customers have been incredible.

"We had people donating whole trollies of food and it is genuinely heart-warming to see so much kindness."

Customers have also been given the option to round up their bills at the till to put towards the charities, which has seen a further £382,000 donated into the pot.

Miranda Kaunang, development manager at FareShare Greater Manchester said: "Our charities have told us how difficult things have become as a result of the cost-of-living crisis with many expecting to see a huge increase in need as the weather gets even colder.

"The support we have seen throughout 2022 will help FareShare to continue getting much-needed food to the people that need it most this winter."

Emma Revie, chief executive of the Trussell Trust, added that food banks are facing their "hardest winter yet" as they "struggle to cope with a tsunami of need caused by the cost-of-living emergency".

Ms Revie said people across the country are making impossible decisions between heating or eating but said that thanks to Tesco customers, the network can continue to provide support to those facing hardship.