A MAN has locked himself in a cage for a 48-hour hunger strike in protest at the number of people using foodbanks.

Church worker Angus McNab, 49, has been conducting the eye-catching stunt for the past two days in Shipley town centre.

Mr McNab helped to set up the Shipley Foodbank Centre and said his hunger strike was designed to draw attention to the plight of the people it serves, some of whom had not eaten for days.

He said: “A lot of the people we work with are trapped in their situations, and feel they’ve been trapped there by other people working for organisations - by the system, if you like.

“They’re trapped in hunger as well, so the cage is very much a symbol.”

Mr McNab, who lives in Shipley and works as an outreach co-ordinator at St Peter’s Church, sat in the cage - a repurposed playpen - in pedestrianised Well Croft throughout the day yesterday and again today.

He and his team of supporters have been chatting to passers-by about the foodbank in a bid to break down myths about the kinds of people who have to turn to them for handouts.

Mr McNab said their foodbank worked through a voucher system, with doctors, social workers or other professionals giving vouchers to those in need, who then redeemed them in person.

He said this meant the volunteers got first-hand accounts about the desperate situations people found themselves in.

He said: “We have seen people like a young mum whose milk was drying up for her five-week-old baby because she wasn’t able to feed herself.”

Mr McNab said many were there because of “problems with the welfare system” and some guests were very reluctant to use the foodbank at all.

“We have seen people literally shaking at the door and crying at the door, they are so scared of asking for help,” he said.

Speaking near the end of his 48-hour fast, with just a bottle of water for sustenance, Mr McNab said surprisingly, he didn’t feel too hungry.

He said: “I’m starting to feel slightly tired now, but that’s after nearly 40 hours. I’m starting to feel the impact a little bit but actually I have generally felt really energised by the experience of being here, being supported by people and having the opportunity to engage in conversations with people.

“Who knows what the impact of this will be?”

Asked how he would break his fast, he said: “I really fancy a curry, to be honest. That’s always my go-to meal of choice.

“One of the reasons I don’t feel that hungry is that I know I have a meal waiting for me. But not everyone has that.

“When our guests leave to our foodbank, they have food but before they come, they don’t know where the next meal is going to come from.”

Mr McNab said while his friends had joked about taunting him with food during his stunt, he had had nothing but positive reactions from the public.

He said: “I was slightly nervous that we would be the subject of abuse, but overall, we have been very positively received, and the conversations we have had have been thought-provoking on both sides.”

Shipley Foodbank Centre forms part of the Bradford North Foodbank and served 1,300 people last year, with numbers growing.

The foodbank is holding a food collection at Shipley Asda this Saturday from 10am to 4pm.