THE recent horsemeat scandal has seen people turning their backs on meat to take up a vegetarian or vegan diet, according to Worcestershire Vegan and Veggies (WVV).

Due to revelations about the sale of horsemeat packaged as beef the group has seen a marked increase in people interested in cutting meat out of their diet.

Ronald Lee, from WVV, said that there had been a surge of people who had got in touch interested in reducing their meat consumption or ditching it altogether.

Traffic to its website and Facebook page had increased and they had also had more requests from people wanting to join the mailing list.

Mr Lee said: “I think it has made people think more about the food they eat and anything that gets people thinking like that is a good thing.

“People eat without thinking what’s in their food and what is involved but this has made them question what they are eating and made them reflect.”

For more information about the group, visit worcsveg.org.uk.