A CRUCIAL food bank, which has moved to a new home, will now open twice a week to meet a rising demand.

Les Nicoll, chairman of Harwich and District Food Bank, was left disappointed after a bid to take over the lease of disused council offices in Waddeson Road, Dovercourt, was rejected last year.

The charity was desperate for a new home and was running from a storage cupboard in the Salvation Army’s George Street base.

But suppor t flooded in and a new home was found, with the food bank mo ving to a more spacious base in the old Citizens Advice Bureau hut next to Mor risons car park, in Parkeston.

Since the mo ve about six weeks ago, the service has seen an increase in demand.

The food bank will now open on Tuesday and Friday mornings in an effort to help as many people as possible.

Mr Nicoll said: “I think it is a fantastic base, it works for us in everyway. It’s so much bigger, we haven’t got people sitting in the cor ridor outside a toilet waiting to be seen.

“What’s happening is now we’ve moved and people know we’re there, we ’re getting busier and busier.

“We definitely get a lot of demand for such a small town.”

Serry Barker, team leader at the food bank, added: “We will start opening on two mornings to help .

“W e will also have vouchers going to the Job Centre, Citizens Advice Bureau, Barnardo's and local schools, who can identify who needs help .

“The increase in demand has been a steady march.

Because of social evictions from London, we’re literally getting people sho wing up in the middle of the night after they have been put on a train.

“There are so many myths about food banks – we get a lot of elderly people, a lot of working people who just cannot make ends meet.”