MORE people in Worcester are using foodbanks than ever before according to Trussell Trust data. 

The charity provided over three million parcels in UK, nearly 18,000 of which went to the city's residents since April last year. 

That is three times as many as six years ago .

Grahame Lucas, Worcester Foodbank manager said: "Those statistics are saying something for a relatively small area. 

"This year has definitely been one of the worst and busiest periods for us and we are up 30 per cent from last year. We are stretched to the limit.

"We just recently reviewed how we operate, reviewing our warehouse capacity and our volunteers and how we can meet the demand. 

"We work really hard to make sure that we have enough food to give out which is an immense challenge. 

"I would like to praise the generosity of Worcester, companies and individuals, who are superbly generous and allow us to have the capacity to meet demand."

Worcester News:

Out of 302 local authorities, Worcester ranked 44th highest for the most food parcels given out, the city's worst ranking since the charity started collecting the data.

Mr Lucas continued: "Seeing a reduction in demand would be wonderful, however, we are not seeing that and I don't think that we will see that in the near future. 

"It's quite surprising to see how broad our client base is. 

"There are a lot of middle-class working families who are living on the edge, only a few paycheques away from crisis. 

"The cost of living crisis has pushed them over the edge and we have had a large increase in this demographic that we have not seen before."

The charity said it needed more things than it could list and that it spent over £5,000 a week on bulk buying food. 

Around 120 people currently volunteer at the centre every week. 

Mr Lucas said: "The heart of the problem is not people on benefits, it's the fact that people in work are not earning enough because of the cost of living crisis. 

"I have been the manager for over ten years and it's changed out of all recognition. 

"Ten years ago we would help 2,000 - 3,000 people each year, this year we helped over 18,000."