Cost of living: The hidden poverty in England's least deprived area

Christmas is looking "cold and very, very bleak", says Anne-Marie, a domestic abuse survivor who volunteers at her village's toy library.

She is one of a number of people who use the food bank in Prestwood, Buckinghamshire, part of which is officially England's least deprived area.

The prime minister's country residence - Chequers - sits less than three miles (5km) away.

Anne-Marie, whose energy bills have tripled, has occasionally seen the prime minister driving through the village.

"You've got the two cars and you've got the prime minister," she says. "You've got the motorbikes that go out first. That's great when you see them living the life that you don't have."

The government's Indices of Multiple Deprivation uses seven categories to assess deprivation levels across the country including income, employment and people's health.

While Jaywick in Essex and Blackpool are the country's most deprived areas, the northern part of Prestwood sits at the opposite end of the spectrum.

But it does not feel that way to some who live in Prestwood.

Like Anne-Marie, Sam also uses the village food bank, volunteers at the toy library and is struggling to make ends meet on benefits.

Sam says she has had to borrow money to cover the cost of looking after her two children.

"Drive around Prestwood and walk around you can see beautiful houses, some very lovely areas," she says.

"But there are places like where I live that is very deprived and I do feel that there is a major gap.

"I'm borrowing money, unfortunately, which is going to put me into debt.

"I can only speak about what I see, and where I live I feel like we're very much hidden."

She says her financial worries are affecting her mental health.

"It's been a very hard time, especially with Christmas coming up. You don't want to let your children down.

"And keeping the heating on in this cold weather - so, electric, gas, all of that - the cost is a lot higher than it was.

"It's a very big struggle."

The difficulties experienced by Anne-Marie and Sam seem all too familiar to Amanda Cook, the executive head teacher of the Prestwood Village Schools Federation.

Just over one in 10 of her 400 pupils are on free school meals, while 61 qualify for the Pupil , which gives schools extra money to the most disadvantaged children. And those numbers are rising, Ms Cook warns.

She says less well-off parents of pupils with special educational needs often struggle to obtain a diagnosis for their child and find "navigating the system" to access the right difficult.

The wealth in the area entrenches inequality in accessing services, she says.

"If a family have the knowledge and the money," she says, "they can go and access a private paediatrician or obtain a private diagnosis and push it through."

Ms Cook started meal packs for pupils in 2016. She describes the situation as "heartbreaking".

She recalls a councillor coming in for a meeting one day and spotting the meal pack bags in the school office.

"He wanted to know what it was about," she says. "He didn't realise there was that need in this area."

Ms Cook has written to the last five prime ministers asking them to pop into the school on their way through the village "to have a look what is going on in the real world".

Each time she has been told there was not enough time for such a visit to take place. The BBC approached No 10 for comment.

Reverend Deiniol Heywood, the Rector of Prestwood and Great Hampden, has what he calls his "two pothole" theory of how even relatively well-off residents can face financial difficulties.

Housing in the village, he says, is expensive and many people will stretch themselves when buying a home.

It means their household budgets are often very tight.

"When you're living in a way where income and outgoings match very closely, things can derail you very easily," he says.

"It's a perennial thing on Facebook and things like that - people get very irate about potholes. You think well, 'Why did people get so concerned about potholes"A mugshot of a man with short, brown hair and a beard. He is staring into the camera and wearing a black hoodie. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/>