A POPULAR family-owned fish and chip shop in East Dorset is giving away free meals as a way of giving back to the community.

Karsberg’s Fish and Chips Ltd in Ferndown is inviting customers to nominate people who are on a low income, vulnerable or elderly and deserving of a treat.

Every Friday, Karsberg’s is delivering a free meal to two households in the local area from their list of nominations that meet the criteria.

The meals will be given out to different people each week for the rest of the year.

People can make their nomination by posting on the fish and chip shop's Facebook page or by sending them a private message.

The fish and chip shop is co-owned by Phil Karsberg, 37, and his mum Julie for the past eight years and is run by Phil and his fiancee Adele Gleeson.

Adele said the idea was thought-up by Phil who had lived most of his life in Ferndown, but while he was fortunate enough to now own a successful business, it had not been without its struggles, and the couple now wanted to give something back to the local community.

The first delivery went to a single mum with three children who had just lost her job.

Adele, who is involved in personally delivering the meals, said: “It’s been lovely. It’s been a really warm reaction from the public. We’ve had lots of people saying that more businesses should do it.”

“It’s something so small but if everyone did something like this, it would make a big impact”, Adele added.

Adele said Karsberg’s has previously helped by donating vouchers to schools and events in the past but this year they wanted to go one step further.

So far, Adele said they had received enough nominations for the next four months with two deliveries each week and they aimed to work their way through the list.

She said: “You can easily take for granted that it’s a normal thing and forget it’s a treat for some people.”

"We live locally in Ferndown and absolutely love where we live and the people we live among", she added.