A LABOUR-RUN local authority plans to offer year-round free school meals to children from low-income households, in what it described as “the most ambitious” proposal in Britain to tackle “holiday hunger.”

North Lanarkshire Council aims to expand its free meal entitlement to cover the 175 days of the year when pupils are not at school during weekends and school holidays.

The council said the “Food 365” programme, which will be discussed at an education committee meeting on Tuesday, would bring noticeable benefits for young people in the area.