A record two and a half million emergency food parcels were given out across the UK in the last year by the charity, the Trussell Trust.

980,000 of those parcels went to children - almost two parcels on average every minute - and in its new report released today, the charity is warning that the need for emergency food aid is rising year on year.

Rory Weal, the Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the Trussell Trust, told Premier its foodbanks experienced a 33% increase in need during the past year:

"This is a really, really concerning increase. And it's actually the first time that the number of food parcels that are distributed by the foodbanks and the Trussell trust network has topped over two million. What we've seen is children have been particularly vulnerable in the last 12 months."

The report shows there has been a 128% rise in the number of people needing emergency food aid parcels (typically a three-day supply of food for one person) compared with five years ago and it's warning that the figures are in reality, much higher:

"While these figures are shocking, unfortunately, they could well be just the tip of the iceberg and could be even higher if we included the huge range of new kinds of providers that have sprung up to lend a hand during the pandemic."

The Trussell Trust is calling on all levels of government across the UK to develop a long-term plan to end food poverty:

"We know that hunger in the UK isn't about food, it's about people not having enough money. And unfortunately, what these figures show is a big rise in hardship in the last year. But this hasn't come out of nowhere, it hasn't suddenly emerged as a result of the pandemic. This is a long term crisis that has been building for several years now."