Pay rent, eat or keep warm? Growing numbers face hard choices as housing benefit gap grows

Wirral mother among renters turning to food banks as gap between a two-bed and housing benefit hits 158 a month - rising to as much as 324 in London

Do you prioritise paying the rent, putting food on the table or keeping the house warm in winter? In practice, says Laura Braddock, a single mum from Wirral, Merseyside, you always pay the rent first and improvise the rest. If I've got a roof over our head, then everything else I can muddle through."

The pressing problem for Braddock, 39, is that muddling through is getting harder. The monthly rent for her two-bedroom flat far outstrips the local housing allowance (LHA) she receives - and the gap may widen.