THE number of people needing emergency food parcels in Evesham has doubled in the past year.

Since March last year 823 food parcels have been handed out by the Vale of Evesham Christian Centre, which runs the town's foodbank.

This is a massive increase of 100 percent on the number given out last year, which was around 400.

Diane Bennett, who is a community worker for the Christian Centre, which has run the food bank in Evesham since 2003, said the number of people needing help rocketed last April and is showing no signs of reducing.

"We handed out 823 parcels this year," she said. "The previous three years it had been fairly stable at about 400. It wasn't gradual, it was an overnight increase in April.

"It maintained that level, I thought it may have quietened down."

Miss Bennett blames the increase on changes to benefits and a lack of pay rises despite an increase in the cost of living.

"The benefit changes had a significant impact but also it isn't just about benefits but about incomes not having increased," she added. "The first three weeks of this financial year are the same so there is no change yet.

"The number of people using our free diner on Monday and Wednesdays also increased from between 25 to 35 people per session to 40 to 60. But if we only see 40 it's a quiet day."

This news comes just days after the Trussell Trust, an organisation behind a number of food banks in the country, revealed 913,138 people received three days' emergency food from its food banks in the last year.

Reverend David Haslam, has been campaigning against benefit changes, such as the bedroom tax, which he thinks is a main reason behind the increase in demand for food banks.

He said: "I think the general feeling is people have been effected by the bedroom tax, by the benefit cap and by other sanctions. Also they lost benefits for something minor and it takes weeks for them to re-instated. To use the food banks people have to be referred, it is an emergency source.

"The service is certainly valued but the question is should this be happening in a country as rich as ours and as sustainable."