Thousands of children and families are facing a "Dickensian" Christmas of fear and stress due to UK Government benefit changes, MSPs have warned.

The use of benefit sanctions to withhold money from claimants leads to the kind of poverty seen in Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Welfare Reform Committee convener Michael McMahon said.

Children are walking three to four miles to beg "please sir, can I have some more" at foodbanks like Oliver Twist, he added.

One woman was left "on the brink of homelessness" when her benefits were sanctioned for 15 months, and another faced sanctions after missing an appointment because she went into labour, according to the Labour Party.

Claimants often have their money sanctioned without notice, and only find out when they try to withdraw cash at the ATM, Mr McMahon said.

Two-fifths of these sanctions have been subsequently overturned on appeal.

Mr McMahon said welfare reform is creating "a climate of fear around jobcentres rather than one that encourages people to engage with them and find their way back to work".

But the Conservatives urged MSPs to look beyond the "rhetoric" and recognise that welfare reform is about getting people back to work and reducing their dependency on the state.

Mr McMahon said: "Whilst this is the last debate before Christmas, I'm afraid some of what I have to say won't be very merry.

"The tone is perhaps a little Dickensian - more A Christmas Carol than Christmas cheer."

He added: "We find that welfare reform is a significant cause of the rise in demand being experienced by providers of food aid," he said.

"We strongly contest the UK Government's assertion that the growth in foodbanks is due solely to increased publicity and people choosing to use foodbanks as an economic choice.

"We found that there had been a 400% rise in people receiving assistance from foodbanks over the previous year.

"There were a staggering 71,000 people - over 49,000 adults and 22,000 children - using Scottish Trussell Trust foodbanks.

"That's 22,000 children asking: 'Please sir, can I have some more'.

"Benefit issues are a major contributor to this increase with 28% of people attending foodbanks doing so because of benefit delays and 18% because of benefit changes.

"That is almost half of people attending Trussell Trust foodbanks because of the benefit issues.

"Foodbanks are a sign of Dickensian model of welfare which should have no place in a prosperous nation."

Welfare Minister Margaret Burgess said: "It's a disgrace that so many people in Scotland have been unable to put food on the table, and that's why the Scottish Government set up the emergency food fund.

"The fund is providing over half a million pounds over two years to projects right across the country."

Labour social justice spokesman Ken Macintosh said: "The British Medical Association and the Scottish Association of Mental Health have both reported how living in fear and stress was having a devastating effect on the mental health of those who rely on benefits.

"The UK Government's own review noted that people with mental health conditions or learning difficulties make up 40% of individuals going through a work capability assessment."

Conservative MSP Annabel Goldie said: "The whole point of the reforms is to try and help people to get back into work, try and reduce dependency on the state and also, in tandem with the increased personal allowances with changes to the tax system, enable people to make individual choices about what they do with their money instead of simply having to hand it back to the tax man to be given back in the form of prescribed benefits.

"I know that this chamber does not always see eye to eye with Westminster, but (looking) beyond the rhetoric is an important point."