POVERTY has pushed more than one fifth of people in Scotland into going a day without eating, Citizens Advice Scotland has found.

A survey by the charity of more than 2600 people found more than 20% had not eaten for a day due to lack of money.

A total of 45% of respondents were in work. One in three in this group reported having to reduce or skip meals because they lacked money for food.

Meanwhile, 40% of working respondents worried about running out of food before having money to buy more and 35% said they are struggling to afford balanced meals.

Researchers found almost 25% of participants had had to skip meals so that their children had food to eat.

And more than a fifth of people considered fresh fruit to be unaffordable.

Derek Mitchell, chief executive of Citizen’s Advice Scotland, said he was “shocked” at some of the results.

He said: “For some people, going hungry is the norm. That’s just not right.

“This study shows that many working people in Scotland are struggling to afford to buy food, and in 2018 this is simply unacceptable.”

Mitchell went on: “Citizens Advice Bureaux in Scotland have seen a 202% rise in demand for advice on food and food banks in the past five years.

“That’s an enormous rise and points to a real crisis in terms of the money in people’s pockets not going far enough.”

A total of 2651 people seeking advice from Citizens Advice Scotland or partner agencies completed the survey in September or October 2018, around half online and half on paper.