A RECORD number of pupils were eligible to receive free school meals in York this academic year, new figures show.

And an MP in the city said that fact more children have been caught up in the cost-of-living crisis is "heart breaking".

Department for Education (DfE) figures show 3,989 pupils were eligible for free school meals in York as of January – up from 3,694 the year before.

It meant 15.5 per cent of all pupils in the area could receive free school meals.

York Central MP, Rachael Maskell, shared her concerns on the figures.

The York MP said: "It is heart breaking to see that more children have been caught up in this Government’s cost of living scandal. Whilst the richest one per cent get massive handouts from Government contracts and tax loopholes, the rest of us are trying to navigate through increased mortgage, rent, food and energy bill costs.

“Labour would put children and their education first. Locally, many schools do an amazing job with smaller resources every year, whilst the need for free school meals and breakfast clubs continues to grow to record levels.”

The number of eligible children across England has increased every year since January 2018, when there were 1.1 million, equal to 13.6 per cent. This year, the figure rose to 23.8 per cent.

There were also sharp differences in eligibility across regions of England. The highest rate is in the north east, where 30.4 per cent of all state-funded pupils are eligible for free school meals, while the lowest is in the south east at 18.8 per cent.

The figures also showed not every child eligible for free school meals actually received them.

In York, out of the 3,989 eligible pupils, just 2,991, or 75 per cent, were in receipt of free school meals.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the high level of free school meal eligibility should be a "wake-up call about the appallingly high levels of childhood poverty in England".

Mr Barton said: "Yet these shocking figures in themselves do not reveal the full extent of the problem because there are many more families who are struggling but who do not qualify for free school meal provision as eligibility is limited to those whose household income is less than £7,400 a year."

He urged the Government to extend free school meals to all families receiving Universal Credit.

The Action for Children charity said the figures "significantly understate the scale of the problem of children being too hungry to learn because many children in working poor households are not eligible for free school meals".

A Department for Education spokesperson said it had extended eligibility "several times to more groups of children than any other Government over the past half a century".