THOUSANDS of primary school children in the North-East will lack basics like a heated home, fresh food or a warm coat this Christmas, a leading children's charity has warned.

Action for Children has highlighted Government figures showing the North-East has the highest proportion of children under the age of 10 living in poverty in the UK.

More than 54,500 children – of 17 per cent – in the region are deprived.

The charity says four children in every primary school class will be deprived of the basics this Christmas, with parents living below the breadline able to spend £2 a day per child on food.

Director John Egan said: “No parent in the North-East should have to face the awful prospect of their youngster sitting in the cold without a plate of food to eat at the end of a school day, or skip dinner themselves so their child has a meal.

“Politicians are telling us austerity has ended but every day at Action for Children our frontline services say child poverty levels are at the worst they can remember.

"While some families will spend the Christmas holidays putting their children to bed early to keep warm because they can’t afford to heat the house, for others it has become the norm to not have a winter coat, rely on foodbanks, or for their children to miss out on hot meals."

The charity is planning to host unofficial foodbanks over Christmas to help cope with high demand and is running a Secret Santa campaign to support vulnerable children.

Malcolm Fallows, from East Durham Trust, which runs a food bank as well as other services for vulnerable people, said it had trebled the number of food parcels it is giving out.

He said: "We are feeling the pressure of things like welfare reform and universal credit.

"There has been exponential rise in the number of food parcels we are distributing.

"We have run a food bank for eight years but the the increase in the last 12 months has been extremely apparent.

"In the lead up to Christmas that seems to be spiralling out of control this year."

The charity is handing out about 100 food parcels each week, up from about 30 a week 18 months ago.

It is now running three debt advice sessions a week to help its clients – a service it was offering once a month last year.

Mr Fallows added: "We are seeing the human impact of deprivation.

"It's the aftermath of Christmas we fear for people who do whatever they can to find the money they need.

"The mental health impact on people is critical. You have to imagine what it is like not to be able to provide presents for your children at Christmas. We haven't even considered the impact of that on society as a whole."