This week is Food Safety Week and Tandridge District Council is encouraging residents to plan ahead and if necessary freeze food within its use by date.

Research from the Food Standards Agency shows 68% of us have thrown food away in the past month, 36% of whom discarded it because it was out of date.  23% did not have the chance to eat the food before it went off.

The UK wastes seven million tonnes of food each year, costing each household around £470 annually.

The District Council have issued these useful facts and tips:

• Use by dates are the most important date to consider as these relate to food safety. Best before dates are about quality not safety.
• The freezer is like a pause button and you can safely freeze most foods right up to the use by date. You can even cook defrosted meat into a new meal and freeze it to eat on another day.
• While food is kept safe in the freezer, it’s the quality that deteriorates over time, so the FSA recommends eating it within three to six months and checking for any freezing instructions on the packaging.
• Once defrosted, the pause button is off, so defrost food as and when you need it and eat it within 24 hours.

For more information on freezing food safely, visit www.food.gov.uk/useby or follow @foodgov #EatitCookitFreezeit on Twitter for tips and advice throughout Food Safety Week.

Dorking could become a Parish Council from next week.

Members of Mole Valley District Council attending a meeting on 12th July will decide whether or not to give the green light.

This follows a petition last year requesting a Community Governance Review be undertaken to enable the creation of a Parish Council for Dorking.

However a local advisory poll taken by electors in Dorking North and South back in May show just over 50% of those who took part were against the idea.

A woman in her 50s has been taken to hospital with serious injuries following a collision in Redhill.

She was a passenger in a blue Seat people carrier which was involved in the incident with a grey Nissan Juke shortly before 2.30 Sunday afternoon on Dean Lane.

Three other people suffered minor injuries.

The road was closed for 5 hours while emergency services dealt with the situation.

Police would like to speak with anyone who witnessed the collision.

Tandridge District Council continues to support victims of the flash floods which hit houses in Caterham, Whyteleafe and Smallfield last month.  

To date, at least 32 families have left their properties and are unable to return to their homes, and over 60 properties have reported either internal or garden flooding.  

A drop-in National Flood Forum Surgery is available at Caterham on the Hill Library.  

The Council urges anyone who has been flooded to contact them to find out how to get more information and support at customerservices@tandridge.gov.uk or call 01883 722000.

Firefighters attended a huge barn fire in Felbridge in the early hours of Saturday morning.  Crews from Salfords, Lingfield, East Grinstead and Oxted, and water carriers from Godstone and Leatherhead joined forces to tackle the fire.  

The barn and stables were situated on the London Road in Felbridge. There were no reported injuries.