‘The number of people resorting to food banks for emergency help to feed their families has more than tripled following the squeeze on benefits which intensified in April.

David Cameron’s own poverty tsar warned last night of the danger of food banks becoming an “institutional part” of the welfare state – and urged the Prime Minister to set up an inquiry into the issue. Frank Field, a welfare minister under Labour, told The Independent he was shocked by the steep increase in their use and added: “Something very serious is happening to people at the bottom of society.”’

Read more: Hungrier than ever: Britain’s use of food banks triples