Eastbourne Foodbank was the busiest in the UK, distributing more parcels per head than any other, said the Trussell Trust network.

Eastbourne councillors have backed calls for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies as part of a motion declaring there is a “cost of living emergency”.

At a meeting last night, Eastbourne Borough Council debated a motion from Liberal Democract Josh Babarinde, which called on councillors to declare the emergency, similar to the climate emergency declarations made by councils across the UK.

The Trussell Trust, a charity tackling poverty in the UK, supports the country’s largest network of food banks.

Figures from the charity show 18,019 emergency food parcels were handed out to people in Eastbourne in the year to March.

This was an increase from 15,087 emergency food parcels distributed in the year to March 2021, and was up 19 per cent on the 15,117 provided in the year to March 2020, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The charity typically hands out emergency packages containing three days’ worth of food.

The Trussell Trust warned that food bank use has accelerated in the past six months, as the rising cost of basic amenities has hit people’s pockets.

Emma Revie, chief executive of the charity, said: “People are telling us they’re skipping meals so they can feed their children. That they are turning off essential appliances so they can afford internet access for their kids to do their homework.

“How can this be right in a society like ours? And yet food banks in our network tell us this is only set to get worse as their communities are pushed deeper into financial hardship.

“No one’s income should fall so dangerously low that they cannot afford to stay fed, warm and dry.”

The Department for Work and Pensions said that it recognised the pressures on the cost of living and was "doing what it can" to help.