Covid poverty: 'You either have sanitary pads or a loaf of bread'

People plunged into poverty as a result of the pandemic are having to choose between buying a loaf of bread or sanitary pads, a charity has said.

Freedom4Girls, which tackles period poverty in Leeds, said it was now giving out food as well as period products due to increasing need.

Tina Leslie, from the charity, said: "The situation has become untenable."

Leeds City Council said it had put aside £1.6m to support families in need.

Ms Leslie said they were delivering thousands of period products and other items every month because people's situations had declined due to Covid-19.

"The poverty in Leeds is getting worse. People have lost their jobs now.

"We have homeless people, normal everyday people, the new financially insecure. People who just cannot make ends meet.

"It's either you have pads or you have a loaf of bread. It's that bad at the moment."

Other charities in Leeds said they had also seen a huge rise in people needing help since March.

Raheem Mohammad, from the Hamara Centre, said: "We're seeing families that are normally working.

"It could be that their welfares have been delayed, it could be that their partner has been laid off their job, they could be on zero-hour contracts previously."

In Chapeltown, Hawa Bah, from the Guinean Community Group, has been supporting families and said people had been queuing outside her home for food.

"The more you talk to people the more you find out that they are really destitute."

Councillor Fiona Venner, Leeds council executive member for children and families, said: "Feeding children should not be the work of charities.

"The council needs to get more funding from central government so we can properly support families in need."

The Department for Work and Pensions said it had provided a £400m package of "support for this winter and beyond, including £170m to help families stay warm and well fed" and money to support food aid charities.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or send video here.