Thousands of tonnes of waste has been thrown away following the Christmas festivities, it has been revealed.

More than 50,000 tonnes of leftover Christmas dinners have been dumped according to an online survey carried out by recycling firm TradeWaste.co.uk.

Respondents were asked about the contents of their Christmas bins to produce an indication of the amount of waste created across the UK.

Nearly 5,000 tonnes of leftover mince pies and 2,000 tonnes of cheese has been disposed of, as well as 17,444 tonnes of Christmas wrapping paper, 12,500 tonnes of Christmas decorations and 68,488 miles of broken Christmas lights.

“Even with a slightly toned-down Christmas this year, we all know how full the bins get after Christmas. It is now clear the huge environmental impact all this waste has,” explains Charlotte Green from TradeWaste.co.uk.

Other figures include 141,525 tonnes of food packaging and 30,000 tonnes of Christmas cards.