THOUSANDS of emergency food parcels were handed out to people in Sedgemoor over six months, new figures from the Trussell Trust show.

The charity said it is not right that so many people across the UK are facing destitution and warned the need for food banks will rise over the winter.

In Sedgemoor, 3,125 emergency food parcels – containing three or seven days' worth of supplies – were handed out by the Trussell Trust between April and September.

However, this was 32% fewer than during the same period in 2020, and below the 3,582 given out in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Across the South West in total 73,226 food parcels were delivered in that period.

Emma Revie, Trussell Trust chief executive, said: “Everyone in the UK should be able to afford the essentials – to buy their own food and heat their homes.

“Yet food banks in our network continue to see more and more people facing destitution with an increase in food parcels going to children. This is not right.”

She added: “The answer must be for us to have the stability of a strong enough social security system to protect any one of us when we need it."

More than 350,000 parcels went to children between April and September this year – 15% more than in 2019.

In Sedgemoor, 1,138 were handed to youngsters, compared to 1,606 last year