That is the view of volunteers at the area’s food banks, who see first hand the struggles of families in Clydebank every week.

They have spoken out after a shock report revealed that one in four children in West Dunbartonshire live below the breadline.

On average, the six local authority wards have 24.63 per cent of children living in poverty — with Clydebank Waterfront the highest at 26.25 per cent and Clydebank Central at 25.87 per cent.

These were the findings of a study by The Campaign to End Child Poverty, which also showed that a shameful 220,000 youngsters in Scotland are living in poverty.

Sandy Harold, a board member of West Dunbartonshire Community Foodshare, said: “These figures are tragic. We get a number of people coming in every week trying to feed their families — without the foodshare they would have nothing.

“The problem is for them trying to budget over bills — electricity, gas and other unexpected bills. Then that’s the money gone for the family.

“It makes me feel horrible. We try to get help for people and get them out of the problems that they’re in.

“Apart from that there’s no pleasure in running a foodshare. There’s no good feeling about knowing one in four children are in poverty.

“We’re seeing people who’ve worked all their lives and now find themselves within the system — people that had money before who now have to come and get food.

“I think it’s more the national government that need to look at ways of making it more helpful for people on benefits, getting people on sustainable income, getting people into work and educating people.” Peter Walsh has also been at the forefront of collecting supplies for the West Dunbartonshire Community Foodshare.

The 59-year-old joiner added: “It’s deplorable that 25 per cent of children are struggling and in poverty in this day and age. I blame previous governments for making the rich richer and keeping the poor down — that’s the whole idea with some political forces.” Churches have been at the forefront of tackling poverty in Clydebank — and the new figures came as no shock to Reverend Tina Kemp, locum minister at St Cuthbert’s in Linnvale and Duntocher Trinity.

She said: “The fact that one in four children in this area are living in poverty is extremely distressing. The church has a number of initiatives aimed at tackling poverty but it is the responsibility of all of us to do what we can to help those less fortunate.

“It’s also important that we understand no-one chooses poverty. Decent, hard-working families can find themselves in difficulty for all kinds of reasons, and sadly it’s the children who suffer most.

“But this is a caring community, and we do our best to help where we can.” Rev Kemp’s congregations are among many in the Clydebank area who support the West Dunbartonshire Community Foodshare project with regular donations.

In December, Clydebank Churches Together — an ecumenical organisation — is hosting a Christmas lunch for foodshare users and homeless people.

Council Leader Martin Rooney described the figures as “unacceptable” but insisted the local authority is working hard to combat child poverty.

He said: “While many of the solutions for tackling poverty lie with the UK and Scottish Governments, we are determined to do all we can as a council to assist our residents and help them improve their life chances.

“Employment provides a route out of poverty. We have a firm commitment to creating jobs and improving access to training to equip our residents with the skills they need to secure work. We have invested over £3.15m in our employability programme and have helped over 1,600 people to find work or training places with 375 apprenticeship places secured between April 2012 and April 2014.

“The jobs market is more competitive than ever and we are developing partnerships with colleges and the private sector to ensure our pupils have the best chance possible of gaining employment when they leave school.

“In addition we have ensured families have access to benefits and tax credit advice and extended free school meals and school clothing grants.”