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Tesco has been handing out free bananas after a little UK town was inundated with more fruit than people following an error with an order.

Located off the north coast of Scotland, the Orkney Tesco store in Kirkwall accidentally ordered 380 large boxes, rather than 380kg.

There are now far more bananas than there are people on the islands. With roughly 100 bananas per box, the town's 7,500 population is overwhelmed with approximately 38,000 bananas.

Stark wind conditions meant ferries travelling between the island and the mainland were cancelled, so the crates could not be returned.

As such, the banana fiasco has led to supermarkets distributing hundreds of the boxes and a posse of the islanders have started a giveaway drive, giving excess boxes to local groups and schools.

Paula Clarke, Tesco's community champion, posted an appeal on Facebook offering the cardboard boxes of exotic fruit for free.

"We have mountains of bananas... literally," she wrote, alongside a photo of her next to towering stacks of banana boxes.

Paula added: "Any local groups, schools etc can come and collect a box, free from the Customer Service Desk at Tesco."

Islanders took to Facebook to share their creative uses for the masses of bananas they were inundated with.

Recipes included banana muffins, pancakes, banoffee pie and dehydrated banana chips.

Reserved for the more daring Orcadians, one local even suggested an experimental homemade banana liqueur, perhaps just the giggle juice this island needs for this banana debacle.

It is thought that Tesco has now organised for some of the stock to be sent out to the outer isles of the remote archipelago.

This is not the first blooper the Orkney islands have faced, with one accidentally ending up with 720 Easter eggs in 2024, which is home to just 500 people.

In the isle of Sanday, where Sinclair General Stores are based, owner Dan Dafydd made the most of the mistake though, hatching a plan to raffle off 100 of the chocolate eggs to raise money for the RNLI.

Dan explained: "I was doing our orders for Easter eggs and was looking at getting 80 in. But when the delivery arrived at our store it turned out I had ordered 80 cases, meaning I had 720."

"The rest of the staff have found it very entertaining," he added.

But hey, on the bright side, if you're a banana lover, these islands might just be your next holiday destination.