THE city's foodbank is facing 'unprecedented' levels of demand and has run out of certain items in recent weeks.

There has been a 45 per cent increase in demand at the Worcester Foodbank, in Lowesmoor Wharf, between 2015 and 2017, according to manager Grahame Lucas.

The 62-year-old blamed the spike in demand on welfare sanctions and the roll-out of a new benefit system.

"In the last two weeks we ran out of jam, crackers, peanut butter, tinned tomatoes and milk," he said.

"We are facing an increasing use by families, particularly with the number of children being fed.

"It's particularly poignant that some kids are going without milk for breakfast because we have run out of it at the foodbank.

"A family food parcel will focus more on breakfast. We can't replace UHT milk. It's important for growth in children."

The foodbank is now giving out over 5,000 individual parcels per year, compared with 3,500 two years ago.

A food parcel provides 10 nutritionally balanced meals for three days.

He said: "We are finding there's a steady increase in people coming through suffering problems with the benefit system, particularly with universal credit being rolled out.

"We also have people on low incomes who have found employment but it's not sufficient to keep their head above water."

Mr Lucas said people are using the foodbank while waiting for their universal credit applications to be processed, or after having their benefits sanctioned.

"Lots of people coming to us are being sanctioned. They often have to wait for six weeks to get to the other side of the sanction," he said.

"When you have got a family involved, what do you do in that period? Lots of our people are so genuinely in crisis they have no money to do anything."

Mr Lucas said the foodbank is also facing shortages of toiletries, including tooth brushes, deodorant and shampoo.

He said these items are usually the first things to be sacrificed during financial struggles but are key to preserving people's dignity and helping them get through interviews.

The manager of the foodbank claims that debt is also a factor driving many to request help.

Mr Lucas said he was grateful for all of the kind donations so far provided by people in Worcester.

He said they received 1.25 tonnes of food on Saturday, during a collection at the Tesco store in St Peter's, Worcester.

To find out which products are needed by the foodbank and how you can donate please visit https://worcester.foodbank.org.uk/