Deal Area Emergency Foodbank now only has half the supplies it needs to help the destitute.

Organisers say more donations are desperately needed as more people need their help.

Manager Sheila Ward said: "We now have seven Foodbanks in Deal, Sandwich and the surrounding villages, and are giving out double the amount of food we are getting in.

"Deal and Sandwich people are amazingly generous and kind.

" However, the amount of people we are helping has increased, and with it, we desperately need more food donations."

Last month the branch warned that more than 500 people relied on its food supplies since April.

This is an increase of 38% since the same period last year.

DAEF in particular needs squash, juice, instant mash, deodorant, tinned potatoes, any kind of pudding and shaving foam.

Donations can be delivered to places such as Sainsbury's in West Street, Deal.

Dover Foodbank also needs more donations to rebuild its stocks as demand for its services has increased by more than half in a year.

Spokesman Jon Wheeler said: "We most urgently need to rebuild our stocks after what has been a challenging 12 months."

He said the 12 months to the end of this June was Dover Foodbank's busiest ever.

It supplied the equivalent of three days' worth of food and other basic goods to just over 3,000 people.

He said that was 55% up on the 12 months to June 2017.

But Mr Wheeler added: "We want to say a really big thank you to everyone who continues to donate in these difficult times."

Dover Foodbank's most wanted items are jam, sugar, tinned custard, longlife fruit juice, cup soups, pasta sauce, UHT milk, baby wipes, shampoo, shower gel and toothpaste.

Items can be delivered to Dover's branches of NatWest, Nationwide, Halifax Tesco and Morrisons and the Associates hair salon in the High Street.

For more information about Dover Foodbank see its website dover.foodbank.org.uk, follow it on Facebook or contact it at info@dover.foodbank.org.uk .