New figures suggest more than half of Hartlepool people cannot afford food bills

The latest Office for Health, Improvement and Disparities figures show 54% of residents in the town – 49,582 people - suffered from “food insecurity” in 2021.

Food insecurity is defined as people not having consistent access to enough food that is varied, culturally appropriate and can sustain an active and healthy lifestyle.

The Hartlepool figure is one of the highest nationwide.

The figures come as the Trussell Trust says more people across the UK used food banks in the six months to September.

The trust says it handed out 1.3 million food parcels nationally – a 33% increase on the same period in 2021 and the highest number on record.

Of them, 1,980 were given out in Hartlepool, up from 1,463 in the six months to September 2021.

That figure is likely to be much higher, given the number of other food banks operating locally.

Rachel Bull, head of policy and research at the Trussell Trust, said: "We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world and yet what these statistics show is that hundreds of thousands of people are going without the essentials we all need to get by.”

A Government spokesperson said it is "committed to eradicating poverty".

They added: "We have uprated benefits by 10.1%, as well as making an unprecedented increase to the National Living Wage this month.

“This is on top of changes already made to Universal Credit, which mean claimants can keep more of their hard-earned money.”