Carving a pumpkin is a popular Halloween pursuit, but 1,500 double decker buses worth of food waste ends up in landfill as a result, campaigners have warned.

Research for sustainability charity Hubbub found that two fifths of people (42%) buy a Halloween pumpkin.

But just a third of those who buy a pumpkin use the edible insides they carve out to cook with, the poll of more than 2,000 people by Populus found.

A quarter of pumpkin carvers throw the edible flesh straight in the bin, while a fifth (20%) put it in the food waste collection and almost a fifth (19%) add it to their compost heap, the survey suggests.

More than half (52%) of those who buy a pumpkin to decorate or carve said tasty recipes would help them get more from their Halloween purchase.

Hubbub said an estimated 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin was sent to landfill sites in the UK last Halloween, the same weight as 1,500 double decker buses.

To help combat food waste, Hubbub is launching "pumpkin rescue", with a pumpkin festival in Oxford and a pumpkin tart recipe from Tom's Kitchen, the restaurant set up by Michelin star-winning chef Tom Aikens.

The charity has also launched a five-point manifesto calling on communities, retailers and the Government to take action to end food waste, including raising consumer awareness of the benefits of freezing food and increasing food waste collections to all households by 2020.

Hubbub chief executive Trewin Restorick said: "Halloween is increasingly popular in the UK, but we seem to have ignored a crucial part of the US tradition: cooking with pumpkins rather than throwing them in the bin.

"With household food budgets under pressure, and 18,000 tonnes sent to landfill each year, it's time we rescued the pumpkin."