Thousands of Edinburgh primary school children may stop receiving free fruit from a local charity scheme due to a lack of council funding.

For the last seven years, charity Edinburgh Community Food Initiative (ECFI), the biggest community food project in the UK, has been providing free fruit to P1-P7 pupils three times a week under its Snack Attack programme.

It also runs a number of other healthy eating schemes in nurseries, primary schools and communities and receives funding for its services from the council’s children and families department.

However, the council has not confirmed it will be funding Snack Attack beyond April 1, leaving the future of the scheme uncertain.

According the News.scotsman.com, the Scottish Executive has guaranteed free fruit for children in P1 and P2 for the last three years and this service has been put out to tender. But, free fruit for older children in P3-P7 in the city’s 102 primary schools will end on March 31 if council funding is not renewed.

The scheme cost £315,000 to run last year and supplies children with up to 23 different types of fruit. It also delivers workshops on healthy eating and other projects, such as planting apple trees.

A spokesman for the council said it was reviewing the Snack Attack initiative and no decision had yet been made.