Birkenhead food bank says some users 'not eaten for days'

A Birkenhead group says it is seeing more people struggling to "make ends meet"

A food bank says it is catering for people who have "not eaten for days" amid the rise in living costs.

No More Lonely People in Merseyside said it helped an elderly man who had gone four days without food and another in a similar position who was a heart attack patient.

Co-organiser Donna Scully said the bank previously helped homeless people.

But there had been a change in users, she explained.

"We are getting more people who have got accommodation but they can't make ends meet," she said.

Prices are currently rising at their fastest rate in more than 40 years, with inflation at 9.4% and expected to hit 13% in the coming months.

Energy bills have also soared and are expected to rise again in October.

Volunteers are concerned there will be a 'crisis' over the winter

Ms Scully said a "very thin elderly man" came to the Birkenhead centre last week, adding: "He was very shaky and he said 'I haven't eaten for four days'."

He said he could not buy food and pay the bills, before volunteers fed him and gave him a bag of provisions.

"He was ashamed to be here because some people think 'I shouldn't be taking this, this is for homeless people'," Ms Scully said, adding that rising costs were causing "anxiety" among elderly people.

She said the food bank also assisted a heart attack survivor who had returned home from hospital to no food.

"He's struggling with his bills," Ms Scully said. "He hadn't eaten for a few days either."

Donna Scully says there is a rise in the demand for meals

One young food bank user, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC he was borrowing money from energy providers to top up before paying them back.

"It's literally microwave meals, so I don't eat properly, or cup-a-soups or bread."

Payment support

More than 50% of the British population are reducing energy usage at home, with that figure rising to nearly 60% among elderly people, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Ms Scully said volunteers had seen more demand for food and were worried about how food bank recipients would cook if cutting back on energy.

"We're trying to give them food that's easy to heat, that's already cooked and that you can eat as it is," she said.

"Come September, October or November, we're going to be in a crisis situation."

The government has announced an automatic £400 energy discount for all UK households between October and March, plus an extra £650 for some benefit recipients.

It has said it was "phasing in £37 billion worth of support throughout the year".

A number of local authorities in England will also open "warm banks" in buildings - similar to food banks - where people unable to afford heating bills can spend time this winter.

Find advice on paying energy bills here.

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