THE city of York needs food banks more than nearly any other city, Google data suggests.

It’s figures show the city has the one of the highest number of searches for food banks in the UK.

And York food banks have confirmed usage is higher than ever, with more families requesting handouts.

Website LatestDeals.co.uk, a money saving community, is now calling on locals to donate Christmas foods and basic staples to help struggling families and children.

The Trussell Trust, who runs the majority of UK food banks, said over 1.8m emergency food handouts were given nationally this year, 436,938 to children.

Using Google search data from analytics firm ahrefs.com, 165 households per month were found to be searching for a local food bank in York - the ninth highest in the country and more than anywhere else in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

A food bank spokesman in York said: “We’ve noticed an increase this year.

“We're always high on referrals over the summer anyway, as kids don’t get free school meals then, and we're expecting to be even busier next summer with the change to Universal Credit.

“We’re usually busy at Christmas too, but we see more of an increase in January, as we’re not open normal hours over the festive period."