A cider producer is offering the public free cider or apple juice in exchange for spare apples.

Thistly Cross Cider is encouraging donations from large apple orchards and also those grown in private gardens across Scotland.

The scheme is part of an attempt to reduce waste as many locally-grown apples will otherwise go unused.

Members of the public are being encouraged to make the trade and claim their beverage, provided the apples are clean and rot-free. The company are operating a "bucket for a bottle" system to encourage donations.

Peter Stuart, head cidermaker at Thistly Cross, said: "Apple donations are already making their way to the farm and, as a proudly Scottish brand, Thistly is inviting the public to donate their spare fruit and, in return, we'll give them cider or apple juice.

"One of the things that make Thistly Cross Cider so unique is its blend of Scottish heritage apples, hand-pressed on our farm in East Lothian.

"We have a tradition of using apples grown across Scotland from a wide range of sources including professional apple growers, schools, large estate owners and the general public who grow apples in their gardens at home. We even use apples donated from the grounds of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

"Our popularity is increasing but Thistly can't make all the cider it wants to without the help of the public! Every year, we accept fruit donations from all over Scotland, ranging from a bucketful to a truckload.

"Our unique system of using donated apples also eliminates the waste that is all too often associated with the food industry of modern times."

Donations can be delivered directly to the store at Belhaven Fruit Farm in Dunbar, East Lothian.

Alternatively, for those living further north, fruit can be handed in at Gordon Castle in Moray.