Cost of living crisis: Cumbrian food bank busier than ever as people struggle to pay their bills

• ITV Border's Fiona Marley-Patterson went to the Windermere & District Foodbank to meet some of the volunteers

Food banks around the region say they're supporting more families than ever.

One of those is the Windermere & District Foodbank who say they've seen a rise of nearly 20 per cent in the number of food parcels they're delivering compared to last year.

Diana Bradbury who volunteers at the food bank said: 'It's a hidden need in that nobody imagines that people in Windermere do need it.

"They might be between jobs, they might have just had a marriage break-up and they're in a flat somewhere and big families as well who just can't manage on basic wage - which is what you earn around here.

"A lot of people have more than one job, but if you've got a family as well, that's very difficult."

More than seven million people across the UK were estimated to be struggling with bills and credit repayments in January, according to the UK's leading finance regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority.

Ian Winters, team leader at Windermere & District Foodbank said: "In the last year we've seen an 18 per cent rise in the number of parcels we deliver each week.

"In particular, demand is there from families, we've seen a lot of single families in need, including working families as well.

"We're seeing that need being driven by bills - people struggling to pay energy, struggling with universal credit - the gap between that landing and them actually receiving that.

"All of those factors are drivers towards people being in crisis at this moment."

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