Charities will be handed £16 million to help provide food for those who are struggling because of coronavirus.

At least 5,000 frontline charities and community groups in England will benefit, including refuges, homeless shelters and rehabilitation services.

It will cover rural areas as well as cities, targeting those who are struggling to afford or access food, the Government has confirmed.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said: "During this difficult time, our frontline food charities are doing brilliant work amid a significant increase in demand - working in refuges, drop-in services, homeless centres and other places.

"It is absolutely vital they have the resources they need and this funding will help the most vulnerable in our society get the food they need at this enormously challenging time."

The funding is part of the £750 million pot announced by the Chancellor for charities across the UK during the coronavirus outbreak.

Charities have been reporting unprecedented levels of demand for assistance while facing a drop-off in donations.

The freshly announced programme will provide millions of meals over the next 12 weeks and be delivered through charities, including FareShare and Wrap (Waste and Resources Action Programme).

Both Wrap and FareShare have established networks for funding local charities and delivering food, ensuring support can get to where it is needed as quickly as possible.

Cash will also be available for smaller food distribution charities, said a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), with a Covid-19 food charity grant scheme to be created next week to allow charities that provide food to apply online for funding.

FareShare, the largest not-for-profit organisation that redistributes food in England and nationwide, will buy food from manufacturers to provide at least 5,000 frontline charities with food.

Lindsay Boswell, chief executive of FareShare, said: "We welcome this support from Defra to obtain vital food supplies, on top of the generosity already shown by the UK food industry.

"This will enable us to continue to supply much-needed food and drink to the many thousands of frontline charities and community groups across England that are doing the humbling work of getting meals to very vulnerable people during this crisis."

Wrap, specialists in sustainability and reducing food waste, will use the extra funding to boost existing work redistributing surplus food in the supply chain.

Chief executive Marcus Gover said: "This additional funding will be used to expand that essential work with support for the very smallest to the largest charities and enable them to support many more people at this difficult time."

These supplies will be in addition to those already donated by supermarkets, hospitality businesses, wholesalers, smaller retailers, suppliers and manufacturers who have been working collectively, co-ordinated by the Institute of Grocery Distribution.

As well as third-sector support, the major supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Co-op, have donated tens of millions of pounds to food donation programmes since the crisis broke.