UNIVERSITY boffins have secured nearly £200,000 of funding to look into people's eating habits during the Napoleonic era.

The University of Greenwich has been awarded the money by an educational trust to fund a study into how the Royal Navy helped feed thousands of people in the late 1700s.

Popular myths suggest the Navy helped provide beer, meat, fruit and biscuits for up to 140,000 people a year during the Napoleonic wars.

The three-year programme will focus on exploring unseen documents, many of which are held at the National Maritime Museum.

University head of naval history, professor Roger Knight, said the study will "throw light on an unexplored area of history".

The money comes from the Leverhulme Trust, an independent educational body which provides around £30m of funding for research projects every year.