HELP is available as the price of food and drink reaches record highs.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation hit 10.1 per cent in March - a fall from 10.4 per cent in February - but higher than the 9.8 per cent rise that had been predicted by experts.

The rise has seen food and non-alcoholic drink prices surge at the fastest rate for 45 years. 

The ONS data shows food prices, including bread, cereal and fruit, increased by 19.1 per cent year-on-year - the sharpest jump since August 1977. 

Simon Fell said: “This is an incredibly challenging time for households right across Furness.

"The Prime Minister has laid out the Government’s plan to tackle the issue, including halving inflation, growing the economy and reducing debt. 

“The Government’s plan is working, with energy bills set to drop from June. Prices at the pumps have come down again, and continue to fall, which will help hard-working families across Furness to make their money go further.

“I was also a long-standing campaigner across government for benefits and pensions to rise in line with inflation, which is why I welcomed the 10 per cent rise to both state pensions and benefits from April 1 as announced by the Chancellor at his recent budget.

“I’d recommend anyone who is concerned about the cost of living right now visits www.gov.uk/cost-of-living for more advice, call my office on 01229 314 220 or drop me an email and my team and I stand by to offer support and guidance in any way we can."

A spokeswoman for the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce added: "The impacts of inflation are being felt by businesses across a mix of sectors. It’s affecting them in a number of ways. 

"The first is the obvious direct impact on their own purchases. All businesses are really feeling it, but it does have a differential impact because prices rises haven’t been and aren’t even across the board. Energy has been well reported and for example, food inflation is particularly high.

"Input prices are also affected by staff pushing for higher wages because of the impact of inflation on their own cost of living. 

"And of course, customers, whether consumers or other businesses, are generally reviewing what they spend too. Often cutting back on 'the luxuries' or indeed cutting harder.

"The other consideration is the extent to which businesses of different sizes and sectors are able to put their own prices up to counteract all or some of this. Where their customers are already looking to reduce spending, this is particularly difficult. And some customers are more powerful than others. 

"As the Chamber and Cumbria Business Growth Hub, we have a range of support available to businesses, much of it free and all of it very cost-effective, so we’d urge businesses to get in touch rather than suffer in silence."