Asda has announced a U-turn on its decision to remove food bank collection points from its UK stores following pressure from charities.

Several local charities and food banks said they were adversely affected by a decision in January to remove collection points, unannounced, from Asda stores, which had allowed shoppers to make donations of food to local charities, as part of the supermarket's community programme.

The supermarket chain announced yesterday that "an overwhelming number of customers have been in touch to tell us they want us to give charities, such as food banks, more flexibility".

"As a result we will be reinstating unmanned collection points in stores and will also offer the option of having volunteers come into store to talk to customers,” a statement by Asda said.

The supermarket said it will invest an extra £2m into local good causes through the Asda Foundaton and introduced “new processes and guidelines to make it fair and consistent for all the charities and good causes”.

According to the statement, changes to its community programme were initially made following a review to gauge if the chain was "maximimising the support to local communities”.

A spokesman for the charity said: “We never intended to stop food banks or similar local charities collecting in our stores. We made some changes to our community programme around unmanned collections in the belief that this would benefit the many local good causes who collect in our stores.

“On this occasion our customers and colleagues have told us they understand our intentions, but prefer us to continue to give charities more options to maximise donations. We are therefore reinstating unmanned collection points.

“Asda plays an important role in the communities we serve and we look forward to continuing to support many more local charities and good causes.”

As part of the announcement, Asda said it will have volunteers on hand in stores to talk to customers to increase the amount of donations received and help charities to reach out to customers over and above providing a donation.

It will also hold in-store fundraising events, encourage staff to volunteer in their local communities and continue effort with its Chosen by You green token scheme.