More than 15 million pumpkins are thrown away every Halloween and Maidstone Borough Council encouraging people to help reduce this figure.

Its recycling team is asking residents to cut down on their waste by taking part in the #PumpkinRescue campaign.

In a bid to reduce waste, the council is asking residents to think of alternative ways to use the fruit pulp and help reduce the millions of unloved pumpkins that are binned every year at this time.

It has also issued five tips to make sure people are getting recycling right, including making use of the 23-litre caddy for food recycling, sticking to the dry material recycling list, making sure all bottles, cans and containers are empty before putting them in the bin, not putting plastic bags in the recycling bin and putting garden waste in the brown bin.

Graham Gosden, waste manager at Maidstone Borough Council, said: “It is scary to think such a huge amount of waste is created by people simply throwing away their pumpkins rather than using or recycling them after Halloween.

"If the 15 million that are usually binned every year were used to make soup – there would be enough for a bowl for everyone in Britain."

#PumpkinRescue has been running for five years and provides advice and recipes for those wondering what to do with their pumpkins.

They host carving and cooking workshops as well as soup tasting events.

To find out more head to their website

And speaking of the spooktacular fruit, shoppers were certainly given pumpkin to talk about at the weekend at this positively popping pumpkin patch.

Fremlin Walk, in Maidstone, was transformed into a Halloween haven on Saturday, October 26, for its annual spooky event.

Larger than life pumpkins were roaming around the street, greeting shoppers and leading little monsters who wished to take part on a fa-boo-lous trick or treat trail on the hunt for devilishly delicious treats.

The youngsters began their quest at Paperchase, the stationary store, picking up their free treat bag and trail map before being guided along by scary storytelling pumpkins or doing it at their own pace.

Mini witches were spotted collecting their prizes while other children had their faces painted to make sure they were ready to be snapped at the Pumpkin Patch Selfie Spot.

A small pumpkin patch, of all shapes and sizes, was set up with fruits provided by Pumpkin Moon on Old Chatham Road, Maidstone.

Lloyd Wright, Fremlin Walk centre manager, said: “Halloween has once again been a success for Fremlin Walk.

"There’s nothing we love more than seeing families having fun at our free days out, so we will most definitely be running similar events in future.”

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