Tory claims of an economic recovery were blown apart again yesterday as Britain’s biggest foodbank charity revealed that the number of people relying on essential handouts had soared by a fifth over the last year to a staggering million.

Trade unionists and leftwingers called time on the failed Tory austerity policies that have driven working-class people to despair, calling on voters to give them the boot on May 7.

The Trussell Trust, which runs 445 foodbanks across Britain, said over 400,000 children were among the 1,084,604 people who received supplies over the past financial year.

Many more have been allocated essential provisions by local churches and small charities.

A qualified teacher who has been driven to taking parcels on a regular basis said she relied on her foodbank to “put food on the table” for her 18-month-old son and an eight-year-old stepson.

“There are times when (my partner) doesn’t get enough hours of work, and we really struggle to afford food and pay the bills,” she said.

Trussell foodbank supremo Adrian Curtis said: “It’s difficult to be sure of the full extent of the problem as Trussell Trust figures don’t include people who are helped by other food charities or those who feel too ashamed to seek help.

“Trussell Trust foodbanks are increasingly hosting additional services like debt counselling and welfare advice at our foodbanks, which is helping more people out of crisis.”

Labour shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves said the soaring figures proved “the Tory plan is failing.

“David Cameron’s failure to tackle low pay, the bedroom tax and delays in benefit payments have led to over a million people depending on emergency food aid,” she said.

But Ms Reeves has previously stated her commitment to the benefit sanctions that many food parcel recipients cited as the cause of their desperation.

Communist Party general secretary Rob Griffiths said a “substantial increase in welfare benefits” along with a rise in the minimum wage would be essential to reverse the trend of rising desperation.

“These figures are a shocking indictment of the the country with the world’s sixth biggest economy,” he said.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the figures “should make all of us ashamed.”

“It tells us that the government has done grave damage to the welfare safety net,” she stormed.

“Of course we should deal with those who abuse it, but vicious sanctions and benefit cuts — even for those who paid in all their working lives — are destroying the support any of us might need if we lose our job or have an accident.”