Portland foodbank is appealing for donations as their shelves are almost empty.

The foodbank has completely run out of crucial items like cereal, long-life milk, sugar and jam.

The charity is also running dangerously low on a number of items including tinned fruit, sponge pudding, rice pudding and custard.

Rosemarie Husain, who works at the foodbank, said: "We have just been so busy in the last few weeks and our shelves are virtually empty again.

"We are just trying to keep up with the demand but we need so many things and we are running out.

"The difference recently is that we are getting a lot of big families coming in with two or three kids at a time and when you have to cater for large families it's a whole different board game.

"People say that they have big bills coming in and they have to be paid so they don't have any money left for food.

"We keep on blaming Universal Credit but it's the only thing I can see that is causing this. People complain about the inconsistency of the payments because they are getting different amounts each time and don't know how much they will get each month."

Portland foodbank is open 9.30am-11.30pm on Tuesdays and Fridays at Churches Together on Portland, St Johns Church Hall, Ventnor Lane.