A cafe’s bid to get its dishes made with ingredients which are as fresh and local as possible is bearing fruit.

Vicars Café Bistro, a not for profit social enterprise, started its Veg-Ex scheme in March. It now has a freezer stuffed with gooseberries and manager Matthew Adams said he went a month without having to buy a lettuce as growers supported the project.

Each week a list of ingredients needed for the Saltaire cafe’s menu are placed on a board in its window and online.

Allotment holders and growers are encouraged to provide the produce, in exchange for vouchers which can be spent there.

Mr Adams said people were taking in more produce than he thought.

“I didn’t expect to have as much as I’ve had so far. I thought it would just be a handful of people bobbing in with a little bit and that’s it,” he said.

“I’ve got about five kilos of gooseberries in the freezer at the moment waiting to have something done with them.”

One customer in particular, Sheila Emmett, has been taking in ingredients.

Her family recently got half an allotment plot in the village after being on the waiting list for more than four years.

She said: “I think it’s absolutely great. Even with half an allotment we get such a glut and there’s too much really, even with the family, grandchildren and friends, you can only get through so much.”

Mrs Emmett, who lives in the village, said the family had enjoyed having the fruits of their labour cooked by a professional in the cafe. She said: “We just laughed when we had our starters one evening and said, ‘That lettuce was nice and fresh!’”

The scheme, which is supported by landscaping and horticultural social enterprise Bradford Works and Saltaire Allotments Association, is also reducing the enterprise’s carbon footprint.

Mr Adams said: “It’s reduced my veg bill as well. If I’ve not got my veg man coming as often, that’s got to be a good thing in terms of fuel and how local a product is.

“People are really interested and do ask about it when they see the board in the window. We’ve had people coming that probably haven’t really set foot in the building and that can only be a good thing too.”

Vicars Café Bistro was established in 2008 by local vicars, the Rev Jimmy Hinton and the Rev Andy Bowerman. Veg-Ex was planned to run until the autumn, but Mr Adams said he would keep it going.

“I’m not going to turn anyone away,” he said.