Miniature eggs are going to be sold for the first time on supermarket shelves in a bid to reduce food waste, Waitrose has announced.

The retailer will be the first to stock pullet eggs, which are laid by young birds which lay eggs around a third of the size of those produced by older chickens.

Farmers often have to waste these eggs - or use them in their own kitchens - as they fall foul of the size regulations set by supermarkets.

According to food delivery service Farmdrop, up to 10 per cent of every egg farmer’s stock is thrown away because the eggs are too small.

Andrew Jackson from Haresfield Farm, who sells his pullet eggs through Farmdrop, told The Telegraph that the product is getting more popular.

He added: "In winter, the pullets lay fewer smaller eggs when coming into lay so we can sometimes sell all of the pullet eggs to our customers without downgrading any into processing (we use them in our farm-made mayonnaise if we have surplus too!)

"But summer flocks lay more small eggs as they come into lay faster - pullets that come into lay quickly in summer need more time/nutrition to grow and mature fully into adult hens and therefore lay more small eggs at the onset of lay."