MORE middle class families are turning up at food banks amid fears rising prices will push more on to the breadline.

Bournemouth Foodbank in Charminster is hitting new record figures with the number being fed there each week having nearly doubled over the last year to 150.

Families could be hit again by rising food prices due to crops struggling both at home and in the US, one of the world’s biggest exporters. And manager Debbie Bramley said more and more middle-class families are turning up as they are already in trouble.

She said: “It’s extraordinary how many people are really struggling.

“And it really is not just the traditional people that we’ve been feeding in the past.

“It’s become more of the middle class families that are really struggling and it’s just so sad to watch.”

Debbie said the number of families now visiting who were previously more well off has increased this year. She added: “There are more people that we would not normally expect. You can tell from the cars they are driving or where they live.

“You think ‘why are they coming in for a food parcel’.

“They have things on the outside but no food and are struggling to pay the bills.

“It’s getting to that stage where you have to either feed the children or pay the bills.”

Debbie believes there has been a combination of factors including food and petrol costs as well as people having to pay off credit cards and debts from when loans were more available.

She said: “Their mental state plummets and it affects their physical wellbeing. Everything is affected psychologically and physically so it is really hard.”

A drought in the US is causing a fall in the supply of corn and experts fear this is starting to push up prices of food.

A bad year for potato farmers in the UK, caused by the weather, is also expected to mean more food will need to be imported, inflating prices further.