HANDOUTS for struggling families have reached an all time high in the Scottish Borders.

Hundreds of households across the region have joined local authority lists for clothing and footwear allowances as well as free school meals.

And many more are relying on emergency food supplies to feed their children.

The shocking statistics have been revealed under Freedom of Information.

In the past three years the number of food parcels handed out by Scottish Borders Council's social work department has almost doubled from 387 claims in 2009/10, worth �6,058, to 736 claims worth �12,347 for the last financial year.

During the same period clothing and footwear allowances increased by almost 500 payments, from 2336 to 2823, and free school meals have shot up from 1241 grants to 1743.

And figures to date show that the trend is not slowing down.

Borders MSP Christine Grahame said: "This is a sad, yet predictable, trend following on from the recession and benefit cuts.

"I point the blame straight at the door of the Westminster Government.

Fat bankers continue to get fat, even though they caused this mess, and hard-working families are paying for it all." Scottish Borders Council was forced to increase its education budget this year by �28,000 to meet the increased demand for free clothing and footwear.

And in the first seven months of this financial year they have already processed 2687 claims.

Council depute leader John Mitchell hopes the arrival of the railway, as well as other business initiatives, will soon help the Borders buck the trend.

He told us: "There is little doubt everyone across the country continues to be affected by the difficult economic challenges.

"It is important Scottish Borders Council does all it can to support local people through periods like this, through supporting our economy in various - often unseen - ways, and obviously for example the recent announcement regarding the re-opening of the railway to Tweedbank will in due course have a favourable ripple effect on the wider Borders economy including Tweeddale, as will our new business loans scheme and other innovative ideas the new administration is pursuing."