Introducing 'Solidarity Fridges'

So-called solidarity fridges are being placed outside restaurants in France, giving people the chance to leave or take food for free.

The idea, in which people are invited to place food items - excluding meat, fish, or home-cooked foods - so that others, who may be struggling to buy food, can pick it up and use it, came to the country from Germany.

A restaurateur in the 18th arrondissement of Paris is believed to have launched the first scheme of its kind in France, hoping that it would not take long for the concept to spread across the country. There are now at least three in the city - and a trio students hope to take the scheme to Strasbourg and Nancy, pending approval from local authorities. Another could arrive in Metz.

They hope that the new solidarity fridges will be available in the station district of Strasbourg - with a second planned for the pedestrianised Jeu-des-Enfants - and the central market of Nancy.

Market traders in Nancy have been invited to donate unsold produce at the end of the day.