The Scottish Parliament has heard from charities that operate foodbanks across the country

Starving families are raiding skips for food as they are too ashamed to use foodbanks.

The social security committee at the Scottish Parliament heard from several charities that give food support to the poor in Scotland this week.

Mark Frankland, manager of First Base Agency Dumfries – a charity which gives out 4000 food parcels a year – said desperate families were taking months to seek help due to the stigma associated with food banks.

He said one family had resorted to visiting their local service station at 3am and “pulling food out of skips”, rather than dealing with the shame of relying on charity.

The Trussell Trust handed out more than 170,000 food parcels to those in need in Scotland last year and chief executive Laura Ferguson said Universal Credit was to blame for the increase.

She said: “The level of need we are at now is unsustainable. Foodbanks cannot continue to meet that.”

Joyce Leggate, chairwoman of Kirkcaldy Foodbank, said the school holidays had provided a particular pressure point.

She said: “Over the school holidays, the October holidays in particular, we had quite an increase in the number of children that are right in the parcel, in the foodbank, opening stuff up to see what they could eat on the way home, whether it is a packet of biscuits or anything.”

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “We continue to spend around £90bn a year on working-age benefits, including for those on low incomes.

“Meanwhile, Scotland has significant welfare powers, including to top-up existing benefits, pay discretionary payments and create entirely new benefits altogether.

“Universal Credit replaces an out-of-date, complex benefits system with cliff edges that often trapped people in unemployment. Under UC, evidence shows people are moving into work faster and staying in work longer.”