COSTA has left a customer angered for disposing of food she claims could have been given to rough sleepers in Taunton.

Alice Simmons, from Corporation Street, visited the Fore Street store and was surprised to see staff behind the counter throwing away cakes and sandwiches.

When Miss Simmons asked why the food was being binned, she was told it was “not policy” to hand out surplus food to the homeless.

Miss Simmons, who went to the branch on February 5, said: “When I walked in and saw staff throwing away the food I couldn’t believe it.

“Staff must have thrown away three or four cakes, two trays of brownies and lots of sandwiches in a matter of minutes.

“I ordered my coffee and asked the staff why they were throwing them away and they told me they were going out of date that day.”

Alice said she was then offered a packet of three plastic-wrapped muffins by staff but claims current policy means food cannot be given away on a daily basis.

A spokesman for the company said given the low amount of food that is wasted daily, it is challenging to find a charity which is able to collect it.

But Alice claims she was left “speechless” by the amount of food that was disposed of.

She then said she phoned the company’s customer services team and told them that given homelessness is such an issue in Taunton, she thought the food could be put to better use.

After leaving the store, the woman claims she called Costa’s customer services department to ask them about their policy but says she did not get a clear answer.

“When I spoke to their customer services department the woman on the end of the phone couldn’t tell me what their policy was and put me on hold while she spoke to her manager.

I told her that as a consumer and living in a community where homelessness is a huge problem that I thought the food could be put to better use.”

A spokesman for Costa said charities are welcome to contact local branches to collect food for the homeless.

“At Costa we take food recycling extremely seriously,” the spokesman said.

“We have a number of initiatives to ensure there is minimal waste, which includes, first and foremost, a highly efficient ordering system designed to reduce waste before it is created.

“We also offer a 50 per cent discount on food during the last hour of trading that is in date but can no longer be sold in store.

“Given the low volume of food waste created in our stores daily, it is challenging to find a national charity who will carry out daily collections, however, our Food Surplus Policy enables individual stores to make food donations to local charities.”