LEFTover fruit and vegetables from a Horwich supermarket are being recycled straight into the mouths of wallabies and lemurs!

The ASDA store, based at the Middlebrook Retail Park, has teamed up with a Rivington based animal conservationist to help him look after his collection of exotic creatures.

The supermarket donates its leftover produce to former pet shop owner Terry Pearson, from Horwich, who cares for and breeds wallabies and lemurs at his private sanctuary.

Mr Pearson, who also breeds parrots, has kept wallabies and lemurs for more than 16 years.

From an initial brood of three wallabies and two rare ring-tailed lemurs, Mr Pearson now cares for six wallabies and 10 adult lemurs.

And, with more animals being born all the time, Mr Pearson said food bills were on the increase.

"The lemurs, which are naturally only found on the island of Madagascar, are very special and certainly not kept as pets. They are bred for conservation and require special licences and government moving papers," said Mr Pearson.

"I supply wildlife parks and zoos with new blood lines to prevent in-breeding and they require a good source of protein for their health and well being, so they are benefitting greatly from this new recycling scheme."

He added: "Looking after these remarkable creatures can become quite costly so we appreciate everything that ASDA is able to donate."

The scheme is the brainchild of supermarket manager Howard Moreton who is helping to support a summer recycling push taking place at Middlebrook. The retail park is encouraging its retailers to develop green initiatives to persuade both customers and employees to do more recycling.

Two other retailers taking part in environmentally friendly activities are Starbucks and Argos. Starbucks is offering coffee grounds as a source of nutrition for gardens while Argos is encouraging customers to recycle old catalogues via new in-store recycle bins.

Middlebrook's marketing manager Laurie Barton Wright said: "By making lots of little changes to the way we do things, we can make a huge difference to the environment. Over the coming months and years we will be encouraging more of our retailers to participate in recycling activities and work together to make Bolton a greener place."