An Oxfordshire secondary school has taken over its own school dinners after striking a deal with the Co-op.

The Marlborough CofE School in Woodstock is now ordering all its food supplies directly through the town's Co-op shop at a discount price.

The school has been gradually phasing out frozen food, confectionery and fizzy drinks since Christmas when a contract with a catering firm it had used for seven years ended.

All catering staff were kept on and are now preparing healthier meals using locally sourced produce from the Co-op. It is the first time the Co-op has provided food directly to a school.

Instead of burgers, chips and chicken nuggets, children have a choice of freshly prepared baguettes and hot meals cooked from scratch.

The school, which is bidding for Fairtrade status, approached the Co-op because of its stance on fair trade and local produce.

It also wanted to better reflect its ethical, Christian values as a Church of England school.

All furniture in the school canteen is made by Remploy, the biggest employer of disabled people.

The Co-op, which agreed to supply food at a five per cent discount, plus free delivery, is now looking to sign up other schools for direct delivery.

The school is among a growing number of secondaries in Oxfordshire which have taken control of their own catering.

Others include Wheatley Park School, Cheney School in Oxford and Oxford Community School.

Marlborough School assistant headteacher Phil Morgan said: "We wanted more direct control of the quality of the produce. We've chucked the junk we were dishing out under the previous company. We had to do it gradually because of customer resistance. Taking out the fizzy drinks has been particularly hard on some.

"We're not interested in making a profit, we just want to provide healthier food."

While some students have complained about chips being limited to once a week, others welcomed the revamped menu.

Poppy Lambert, 12, said: "I think it's really cool having all the healthy things instead of all the greasy food we used to have."

Cara Bradley, 11, said: "We used to have really manky chips which were covered in grease. The baguettes are good."

Richard Clements, store manager at Woodstock Co-op, said: "We are supporting the local community which is our aim. It's something new and it's early days, but it's encouraging to see how it's going."

Mike Abbott, regional manager of the Co-op, said: "This school is very forward thinking and has similar principles to the Co-op on fair trade.

"We're very pleased to get involved with the school and we hope to work with other schools in this way."