The number of emergency food supplies provided to people in crisis has soared in the past 12 months.

Latest figures from the Trussell Trust’s foodbanks show that more than 7,000 people in Renfrewshire – including 2,000 children – needed emergency support during the 2016/17 financial year.

And, in East Renfrewshire, the charity supplied emergency provisions to 1,878 adults and 1,424 children.

According to the Trussell Trust, demand has soared by 18 per cent in Renfrewshire over the past year, with a three per cent rise recorded in East Renfrewshire.

Ewan Gurr, the charity’s network manager for Scotland, is calling on all those standing in next week’s council elections and this summer’s general election to put tackling food poverty at the heart of their agenda.

He said: “It is crucial to ensure the delivery of a clear and coherent strategy on tackling hunger that can be implemented both at local and national level.

“The discovery that foodbanks in Scotland gave out enough emergency food to feed the entire population of Dundee for three days is deeply worrying and the reasons underpinning this are just as concerning.

“It is clear that a cold Christmas, the rollout of Universal Credit and increasing pressure on the pockets of low-income families is yielding bitter outcomes.”

Mr Gurr blamed record inflation and credit delays for making the situation worse.

He added: “Worrying stories emanating from foodbanks highlight the reality that a record inflation rate and benefit delays are leaving men, women and children sitting at the dinner table with no food in front of them.”

The Trussell Trust currently operates foodbanks in Broomlands Street, Paisley, and at St Andrew’s Church, in Main Street, Barrhead.

For more information, visit the website at www.trusselltrust.org.