The Trussell Trust, which runs foodbanks through churches across the UK, said demand for its services had risen by 50 per cent in the last year to 61,000 people.

The recipients are not homeless people, the charity said, but include many people from low-income working families, as well as those who have been made redundant or who are experiencing delays in benefit payments.

Executive Chairman of the Trussell Trust, Chris Mould, said the numbers fed through the foodbanks had risen by 136 per cent in the last three years as a result of the recession, high unemployment and rising food and fuel prices.

“Foodbank clients are faced with impossible choices between paying the rent and buying food. Parents skip meals or consider crime to feed their children. The shocking truth is that thousands are going hungry in their own homes in 21st century Britain,” he said.

“The good news is that more local churches are becoming aware of the hunger on their doorsteps and with our help they are starting foodbanks to stop people going without food,” he added.

Twenty-one new foodbanks have been set up in 2011 so far, including one in Coventry that has already fed over 800 people.

Trussell Trust foodbanks open for a minimum of three days a week and provide non-perishable food to people in crisis. They are run by local churches in partnership with the local community and all food handed out is donated by members of the public.

It says the number of people needing to be fed through the foodbanks could swell to half a million by 2015.

Project Manager at the Coventry foodbank, Gavin Kibble expressed his shock at the scale of need.

“We hugely underestimated the number of people in need of emergency food and have been shocked at the demand since opening,” he said.

“In the last week alone, we have fed over 150 people. The store room is almost bare. We’ve had to do an urgent appeal for food donations to meet this unprecedented need.”