The meals will be prepared on the school premises

Eden Foodservice will provide meals from the start of the Autumn term and they expect to dish up more than two million meals in the academic year.

School dinner staff working for the current contractor, Scolarest, will transfer to Eden Foodservice.

The price of school meals will remain the same, subject to inflation, the county council said.

Councillor Rita Drinkwater, cabinet member for education, said: "A number of organisations with excellent reputations competed for this contract, and I am confident that we have made a very good choice.

"Eden offer a menu with a high proportion of fresh fruit and vegetables and their food will be prepared in our schools, from scratch, every day."