PARENTS of Clydebank pupils have slammed the council’s involvement in the Eat Out to Help Out scheme as primary children are currently unable to receive hot meals.

West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) is one of fifteen of the 32 local authorities that signed up to the Treasury scheme, which offers a 50 per cent discount on meals from Monday to Wednesday throughout August.

But, parents have described the five day worth of half price meals as “pointless” due to kids “not liking” the cold food on offer, resulting in them having to take their own packed lunches in.

Andreana McDonald told the Post: “It’s an absolute disgrace what they are feeding our kids.

“I totally get we are all under extreme circumstances. But, if it’s apparently safe enough for kids to be back in school why is it not safe enough for the dinner ladies to be back to cook a hot meal?”

The mum said her son only ate a banana for his lunch one day, which a teacher had to source, because he didn’t like what was on offer.

He has since been taking his own lunches in.

A cheese salad wrap, a cheese and pineapple salad, a ham pasta salad pot or a ham layered salad were some of the options available to pupils last week.

Another parent, who asked not to be named, said her son, who attends Kilbowie Primary, is “starving” when he comes home.

She said: “We feel let down by the council to be honest.

“I feel my son is not getting enough to eat and there is only so much we can try and give him.

“He is not a sandwich/wrap person so he eats maybe a yoghurt and a biscuit and when he comes home he is starving.

“Why can’t our children get a hot meal, even if it has to be transported from somewhere else?”

Concerns have also been raised on social media that vulnerable kids, who rely on a hot meal at school, will be missing out on it.

One parent said: “There are some kids who rely on a school meal as their only meal of the day and there’s no way a kid would eat half those things.”

A spokeswoman for the council said: “The council would like to apologise for the temporary loss of a hot meal option. Many of our school kitchens are small, making physical distancing extremely challenging for catering staff. Like many other authorities, we are temporarily offering packed lunches which are produced by fewer staff making physical distancing within the kitchens easier.

“We are currently reviewing arrangements in each of our kitchens and intend to reinstate hot school meals as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Meanwhile, Maurice Corry MSP praised the council’s decision to sign up to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

He said: “The UK Government’s scheme has been a major boost to help our struggling hospitality sector and it’s great that the initiative has been designed to allow schools to participate too.

“It is very positive to see WDC sign up.”