A POLITICIAN has dubbed the surge in foodbank referrals in Denbighshire as "scandalous".

Chris Ruane, MP for the Vale of Clwyd, hit out at news that more than 1,300 three day emergency food supplies were given out to people in the Vale of Clwyd last year following the introduction of Universal Credit and a five week wait for its first payment.

The network’s statistics for the period between April1 2018 and March 31 2019 show an increase of 696 people – 416 children and 280 adults – for a total of 3,036 people - 1,273 children and 1,763 adults - receiving referrals.

Mr Ruane said: "It is absolutely scandalous that more-and-more people are having to rely on food banks in this day-and-age.”

“We have one of the biggest economies in the world and yet we are seeing more-and-people struggling to put food on their plate and more-and-more people struggling to find somewhere to act as a roof over their head.

“There can be many reasons why people have to resort to food banks but one which is often cited is the delays in processing Universal Credit and this is entirely within the government’s hands to address.

“They have been warned time and again about the consequences of the minimum five week wait for support and those consequences are now visible in the number of people we see sleeping on the streets of our towns and cities and of those who are having to attend a food bank.

“We are lucky in that we do have excellent well supported foodbanks in the Vale of Clwyd and I would like to pay tribute to all the work they carry out."