MORRISONS supermarkets across the UK will be giving away 125,000 paper bags of wonky carrots to customers who want to leave out refreshments for Father Christmas and his reindeers on Christmas Eve.

The wonky carrots - which are oversized, misshapen and scarred but still taste delicious - will be handed out in bags labelled 'Carrots for Rudolph' from the entrances of the 493 Morrisons stores across the UK on December 21.

The move aims to introduce children to wonky veg and encourage families to buy large, misshapen or slightly scarred carrots.

At Christmas time carrot sales soar - from a typical 450,000 bags-a-week in Morrisons to over 1.6 million in the last three weeks of December - wonky carrots still only account for between 10 to 15 percent of carrots sales. 

'Carrots for Rudolph' will also help British carrot farmers who have harvested more wonky carrots than usual this autumn - due to the unseasonably wet weather in October and November.

Pulling carrots from wet fields has resulted in muddy or slightly scarred carrots which have fallen short of a ‘Class 1’ criteria.

In addition, some of the crop has grown to be oversized or oddly shaped. Despite appearances, all of these carrots are just as good to eat.

Warrington Guardian:

Alastair Ferguson, Carrot Farmer for Morrisons at Strawsons Farm said: "The heavy rainfall this year has made harvesting very challenging.

"We’ve plenty of standard carrots for Christmas dinner - but also have a lot of wonky carrots.

"Carrots for Rudolph is helpful because it introduces customers to wonky, finds these carrots a home, and stops them being wasted."

Morrisons will also be giving customers Christmas Oranges for stockings on December 22.

The oranges will be given to parents along with a story-card telling the history of the tradition – so that parents can read it to their children ahead of the big day.