Money offered as emergency support to the county's poorest families has shrunk by 60 per cent over five years, official figures reveal.

Local welfare assistance schemes (LWAS) were set up five years ago and are designed to help people on low incomes deal with unexpected hardship, such as a lack of money caused by benefit payment problems, or domestic crises such as broken boilers or flooding.

Gloucestershire County Council is still offering LWAS, but its funding is 59.9 per cent lower than what it was five years ago.

Church Action on Poverty surveyed more than 150-council run schemes and found that the available money in Gloucestershire has reduced from £1.12million to £450,000 since 2013.

Gloucestershire County Council have confirmed the data is accurate.

The county council has had 9,430 applications since 2013 but fewer requests are being made.

The charity said thousands of people are being swept further into poverty or forced to turn to food banks and other charitable responses, as a result of cuts to crisis support in England.

Nationally, the amount LWAS money has dropped from £172million to £46million since 2013.

Some councils have had to cut the service completely, its research said.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by the charity, and shared with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, found there has been a 79 per cent drop in applications since 2013 - from 3,700 to 757.

Last year, the majority of total welfare applications - care and crisis - came from residents in Cheltenham (163 care, 16 crisis), the FOI said.

Gloucester had the most crisis applications last year at 34.

Councillor Ray Theodoulou argues there are less applications because more people are in work.

Church Action on Poverty said: "In 2013 the Government abolished the system of emergency grants and loans provided via the Social Fund and instead told each top-tier local authority in England to set up its own Local Welfare Assistance Scheme (LWAS). At the same time, central Government funding for this vital support fell from £330 million in 2010–11 to £178 million in 2013–14.

"Our new research reveals the steep decline in Local Welfare Assistance Schemes across England."

LWAS replaced the national Social Fund in 2013, with responsibility for sending cash to English local councils. The Government stopped providing a ring-fenced grant for the schemes in 2015.

Mr Theodoulou (C, Fairford and Lechlade on Thames), deputy leader of the county council, said: “Since 2013 unemployment in Gloucestershire has fallen from 17,500 to 7,400 in September last year, a fall of 57 per cent, so it’s no surprise to see welfare support applications have fallen too over the same period – by almost the same proportion.

"We continue to provide help and support for people facing an emergency, that could be clothing, food or fuel vouchers, with an emphasis on non-cash schemes and recycled goods where appropriate.”

The charity's research found more than 20 English councils had closed their funds.

Only Islington and North Tyneside are believed to have increased their level of funding since 2013.