London (AFP) – The number of people in Britain using food banks has nearly tripled to more than 900,000 over the past 12 months, according to a shock report on Wednesday from food bank operator Trussell Trust.

Some 40 bishops and over 600 other church leaders from around Britain have signed an open letter calling for urgent government action on food poverty.

The letter, released on Wednesday, is part of the End Hunger Fast campaign, launched by Christian groups.

“With benefit changes (and) poverty wages leaving three quarters of a million needing food aid, Britain has become the hungry man of Europe,” said Keith Hebden, Mansfield parish priest and spokesman for the campaign.

The Trussell Trust said its statistics show that 913,000 people received three days emergency food aid in the year to March as the number of food bank users soared at the fastest rate ever recorded.

Signatories of the letter include the Archbishop of Wales and leaders from every major Christian denomination in the UK: Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical Alliance, Methodist, Baptist and United Reform Church.

View galleryA volunteer sorts through donations of food at the …
A volunteer sorts through donations of food at the Hammersmith and Fulham food bank run by the Truss …
The letter calls the situation “shocking” and asks the government to “commit fully to the independent inquiry on the rise of UK hunger.”

The 600 co-signatories also include vicars, ministers, reverends and other Christian leaders of all denominations.

The charity — which runs more than 400 food banks across Britain — said the government has yet to act on a previous letter, signed by 27 bishops in February, or acknowledge a 75,000 petition, delivered to Downing Street last month ahead of the budget.

Hebden and two other church leaders who have fasted for 40 days were delivering copies of the letter on Wednesday to the constituency offices of Prime Minister David Cameron, his deputy Nick Clegg and Labour leader David Miliband.

Hebden, Grimsby chaplain Simon Cross and Catholic missionary Scott Albrecht were to be accompanied by local bishops, vicars and food bank volunteers in a show of support.

Other supporters of End Hunger Fast were to stage a vigil outside the Houses of Parliament on London from 6pm on Wednesday.

Bishop of Oxford John Pritchard said: “Being hungry is one of the most miserable experiences and being hungry day after day, month after month, with all its consequences of illness, weakness and inability to work, must be desperate.”

The Department for Work and Pensions says it is spending £94 billion a year on working age benefits so that the welfare system provides a safety net to millions of people who are on low incomes or unemployed so they can meet their basic needs.

“The truth is that the employment rate is the highest it’s been for five years and our reforms will improve the lives of some of the poorest families in our communities by promoting work and helping people to lift themselves out of poverty,” a spokesman said.

SOURCE: http://news.yahoo.com/food-bank-users-britain-triple-900-000-084956520.html