A website has been set up to highlight which local food and drink producers are still operating during the coronavirus lockdown.

Produced in Kent, an organisation which champions local suppliers, hopes helpkentbuylocal.co.uk will allow many producers to keep trading successfully during the challenging period.

And it is reaching out to both its members and non-members in a bid to develop a definitive list. All listings for firms are free.

Floortje Hoette, chief executive of Produced in Kent, said: "In these extraordinary times it is so important that we support each other and work together.

"We have created this new site to connect the businesses with the consumers, as well as other businesses.

"Every single business across Kent needs some sort of support right now and we are here to help all these businesses to stay afloat, by facilitating customers’ access to good local food.

“If anything good was to come out of this very challenging period, it is a higher public awareness of the fantastic food supplied by your local butcher, the farm shops, the bakers and the village shops , not forgetting the doorstep deliveries made by the local dairy farms.

“We must all make an effort to buy local, not just now, but also when Covid19 is no longer dominating our daily lives.”

It has joined with Digitalbeans, a digital agency based in Canterbury, which has launched a free website solution called YourLocal.Delivery. It will help local businesses in Kent launch their own online store, making it easy for customers to buy local and stay safe.

Head to our business page for all of the latest news about businesses in Kent