A FOODBANK operator has defended the work provided by the service after research claimed that for every person who uses a food bank in Glasgow almost another four face going hungry.

The Go Well research project focused on some of the city's deprived areas where it found one in every 25 households have sought emergency food ration.

The survey of people living in impoverished neighbourhoods found 4.2 per cent had used food banks and 17.3 per cent had occasionally or frequently struggled to meet the cost of food.

Ewan Gurr, of the Trussell Trust, said: "The Go Well research reaffirms the negative impact social disadvantage, including foodbank use, can have on mental wellbeing and I applaud the researchers for including the voices of people experiencing poverty in their report.

"It is extremely useful in reminding us that hidden hunger is a reality many face but, as acknowledged by the authors, it’s clear more research is needed."

But he added: "We need to move beyond unhelpful descriptions of foodbanks as ‘shameful’, language which only exacerbates the stigma attached to people who need to use foodbanks, and start identifying solutions to help us transition from a tourniquet to triage type of response.

"Foodbanks, however, have never been presented as a panacea and to describe them as a poor solution to food insecurity is like suggesting the medical profession is a poor solution to ill health."

The research came from interviews for the Go Well project, which is examining regeneration, with 3,614 residents living in deprived parts of Glasgow in 2015.