A FOOD delivery company has announced that it is expanding the number of riders.

Deliveroo, the UK's leading food delivery company is due to rapidly expand in Southampton to meet high demand.

It has been delivering meals in the city for four years and now works with over 270 restaurants.

The company claimed on October, 12 that it will now create work for a further 300 riders in Southampton by the end of the year.

Will Shu, CEO of Deliveroo, said: "Riders are heroes and we are so proud of the vital role that they are carrying out in their local communities during the pandemic.

"It is fantastic that we can now recruit even more riders and will create 300 new opportunities in Southampton by the end of the year.

"With a record number of riders and restaurant partners on the platform, we can now reach even more amazing customers across the UK, delivering the food that people need and want."

Across the UK, the company will have more than doubled the number of riders from 25,000 to more than 50,000 over the course of 2020.

The company has already started to work with 15,000 new riders during the pandemic, a 286% rise year on year.

The company is currently adding 2,000 riders per week to its network, which is the highest number on record.

This follows a sharp rise in new restaurants that have joined the platform since March.

Exclusive Deliveroo data revealed that there are now 11,500 new UK restaurant partners on Deliveroo which the company say demonstrates 'the strong customer demand for food delivery during the pandemic'.