UNWANTED apples from gardens and orchards in Oxford can now be turned into juice, thanks to a new initiative from Oxford brewers.

Oxford Farmhouse, near Headington, is offering to take the fruit off people's hands and press it into apple juice or cider for free.

People can choose to take a share of the drink home, if they want it, or donate all the produce to the business to help it cover the costs of the new equipment.

The hot summer has led to an early harvest for apples this year, with trees already overburdened with fruit.

Many of these apples go on to be wasted with tree owners unable to eat or use all the excess fruit.

Owners of the farmhouse, Andrew and Mandy Myatt, are also offering to come and pick the apples off the trees if necessary, or people can drop them off at the site.

Mr Myatt said he started the initiative after seeing a similar thing working well in the Moss Side area of Manchester.

This project, known as Moss Cider, helped residents turn their fruit into cider for drinking - reducing waste and creating a product that could be sold to raise money for good causes.

He has spent the last two years perfecting a recipe for the drinks and believes he has now hit upon a 'decent product'.

He said: "The apple juice is available immediately, but the cider takes six months to ferment.

"If you bring apples to us, you get 50 per cent of the juice from those apples, just to cover our costs.

"But we are also happy to pick the apples off the trees or you can leave them by the gate, but then we keep all the juice because of the time it takes."

The couple are hoping to turn juicing sessions into an event families can enjoy with food on offer and a chance to try your hand at their press.

Freshly pressed juice will be sold to farm shops and delis from across the city with other businesses including the Tap Social expressing an interest in taking on some of the cider.

Mr Myatt added: "People have already told us how grateful they are for taking the apples off their hands.

"No one likes to see fruit being wasted and this is a fun and easy way to put it to good use."

To organise an apple-drop off get in touch with the Oxford Farmhouse on social media at @oxfordfarmhouse or email oxfordfarmhouse@icloud.com.