Telly star Floella Benjamin has launched a new range of ready meals - made in Sussex.

The Caribbean dishes, which were on supermarket shelves this week, are being made at a factory in Worthing.

The former Playschool presenter, 59, said: "As a child my mum taught me to cook and food has always been close to my heart so all the dishes are based on traditional family recipes but with my own unique, contemporary twist created to complement a modern healthy lifestyle.

"To get this to the market place has been a labour of love.

"I wanted to share my culture and put Caribbean cookery into the British public's consciousness.

"This encompasses everything I love and believe in."

Around 15,000 of the Caribbean Kitchen meals, which cost £2.99, are being made every week and are being sold in 50 stores belonging to supermarket chain, Morrisons.

Floella Benjamin's Caribbean Kitchen range is based on her own recipes and includes curried mutton, jerk chicken, a vegetarian curry and calypso chicken - a dish from her native Trinidad.

The presenter first came up with the idea of the range, which are said to be low fat and healthy, three years ago but it has taken until this week for the project to come to fruition.

A spokesman for Morrisons added: "We are excited about the range."