Pub giving away free meals to help struggling families in summer holidays

A pub is handing out 100 free meals a day to kids in a bid to help hungry struggling families through the summer holidays.

Landlord David Yeomans and his team at the Crown Inn in Keynsham, Somerset had a "lightbulb moment" when he went to donate goods to a foodbank.

So earlier this week, he started handing out free meals to kids "no questions asked".

The businessman said some parents have been left close to tears when visiting the pub and many are working - but are caught out by zero-hours contracts and low wages.

Grateful parents have come into the pub in tears (PA)

Mr Yeomans said he wanted to do something to alleviate 'holiday hunger' - where kids who normally get free school meals are left hungry throughout the summer break.

He said: "The idea came when we saw an appeal by the foodbank in Keynsham saying that they were looking for food.

"We went to give them a load of food, and then we thought, well, we cook a load of food every day anyway, and we would be able to do meals really cheaply, because we are already set up for that."

He first put the idea out there on the Crown's Facebook page, and said the restaurant was offering a free lunch for any child.

Mr Yeomans said he wanted to do something to alleviate 'holiday hunger' (PA)

"They get a free sandwich and then at the same time, we give them a free proper cooked meal that we've prepared that they can take home and reheat for tea later," he said.

"It's for all families who need an extra hand feeding the kids.

"You don't need to buy anything and we won't ask questions," he added.

The Crown first did this earlier this week.

"Some of the people that have come in, well you can see on their faces that they are uncomfortable, because it's not a great situation to be in," he said.

Youngsters will get a free sandwich and then at the same time, a free proper cooked meal to take home (PA)

"One woman came in and was almost in tears, and she said to me: 'you don't know how much help this is right now, thank you'.

"But we do know there are people who are too proud to come in for this, so to get around that, we're basically just holding a free kids party on Friday.

"There'll be games, a children's entertainer and stuff, and there'll be a free buffet, free squash and we'll do meals that the kids can take away," he added.