The Chartered Accountants' Benevolent Association (CABA) is reporting a rise in requests for food parcels from accountants and their dependants who risk going hungry because of a shortfall in income.

The charity says numbers involved are quite low - six so far this year - but this compares to just one in 2012. The majority of those asking for food are currently living on benefits.

Kath Haines, CABA chief executive, said: 'Requests for food are something that have been very rarely seen at CABA in modern times but they are now starting to happen with some regularity, even if the total numbers are not high. The people who call us asking for food tend to have nothing to eat in their house and are in a desperate situation.'

CABA says its standard response to requests for food, once confirmed, is to send a supermarket voucher to the person in need.

Nationally, there have been reports of a surge in demand for support from foodbanks, partly as a result of recent changes in the rules on the payment of benefits. One of the most prominent groups working in this area, the Trussell Trust, says more than 150,000 people were referred to the charity between April and June, compared to 50,000 in the same period during 2012.