A food bank's annual grocery bill has jumped by more than 4,000% as donations slump and prices soar.

Canterbury Food Bank (CFB) bosses have described "a real food emergency" as the price of its shopping - which supplements items donated by the public - jumped from a yearly £800 to more than £35k.

The charity - which provides food parcels to people across Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay - has seen a huge rise in users in recent years.

The pandemic saw demand for its services quadruple, but the situation has since worsened as inflation and soaring fuel prices has pushed many more families into poverty.

CFB spent £800 on food in the year to July 2019, but its shopping bill for this year will exceed £35,000.

Trustee Peter Taylor-Gooby, a professor of social policy at the University of Kent, says the astronomic increase is down to rising food prices along with a decline in donations and soaring user numbers.

Donations now make up less than half of the food the charity hands out.

"This is a crisis which is only heading in one direction - it’s about to get worse..."

Meanwhile, its database reveals how prices of basic items have jumped, such as instant coffee, which has risen by 50p to £3.25 for a 100g jar.

Other food items which now cost significantly more include tomato soup, baked beans, cereal and tinned peas.

Prof Taylor-Gooby said: “I think it is very serious, it is a real food emergency.

“Universal credit benefits have been held down for an awful long time now and last autumn we had the withdrawal of the £20 uplift.

“I’m worried about what will happen in October when energy prices go up again.

"This is a crisis which is only heading in one direction - it’s about to get worse.”

CFB has distributed nearly 82,000 meals in the last year, marking a rise of 24% compared to the previous 12 months.

In the school holidays alone this year, it has distributed enough emergency food parcels to provide nearly 10,000 meals to children in the district who would otherwise go without.

CFB provides emergency three-day food parcels to people in financial need across the Canterbury district.

Anyone who can not afford to buy food can get in touch via the charity's website or by ringing 01227 936450.

The organisation also has donation baskets in all leading supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons, where people can leave dried or tinned food items.