Thousands of emergency food parcels were handed out to people hardest hit by the pandemic.

A Trussell Trust report shows 11,366 emergency food packages were distributed by its Wiltshire foodbanks over the year, 4,613 of them to children - around 89 every week.

The calls for help came as families were affected by furlough and lockdown restrictions like the closures of schools.

Jean Colgrave, co-manager at the Warminster foodbank – which is not part of the Trussel Trust – said that since the start of the pandemic the service has distributed nearly 4,000 parcels to families and individuals.

Jean added that this number is around twice as many as the foodbank would normally distribute.

“We’re quite well placed in Warminster because the local community are very generous,” she said.

Claire Edgar, director of learning disabilities and mental health at Wiltshire Council, said the council had distributed 1,422 emergency food parcels to residents between March and June last year through the Wiltshire Wellbeing Hub.

She added the hub still helps those with signposting to foodbanks, supermarket slots and referrals to the local welfare team who can award vouchers to those experiencing exceptional hardship.

At Bradford on Avon’s The Hub 1,339 parcels were requested between April 2020 and March 2021.

Avril Clarke, coordinator for The Hub said: “The local community has been extremely generous and supportive with both food and finances, which has allowed us to buy items that we do not get in sufficient quantities.

“We were also able to buy some camping items for the homeless.

“As a way of tracking donations, food is weighed in and out so during the timescale we have received/bought 23000kg of food which has also gone out as separate food parcels, the size of each depending on numbers in the household.”