Less than half of the UK’s local authorities offer meals on wheels services to elderly and vulnerable people, according to new research into the impact of cuts on local government.

A quarter of councils have stopped offering the service since 2014, figures published this weekend by the National Association of Care Catering (NACC) have revealed.

The north of England, which has seen the highest cuts to local authorities’ budgets since 2010, is also the worst area for meals on wheels. Just 13% of councils in the north-west provide the service, while 17% in the north-east do.

Meals-on wheels services are seen by campaigners as a crucial way to ensure that vulnerable older people are provided with a hot meal and human contact on a daily basis.

In the east of England and London, nearly one in three councils have cut their meals on wheels services in the last few years, according to the figures. In Yorkshire and the Humber, nearly one in four have.

All councils in Northern Ireland provided meals on wheels services up until 2016, but one in five have stopped doing so in the past two years.

The reductions are caused by the government’s cuts to adult social care budgets, according to NACC. The Local Government Association estimates that adult social care faces a £3.5bn funding gap by 2025.

Neel Radia, NACC chair, said meals on wheels are about more than food provision.

“For many older and vulnerable people, the meals on wheels delivery might be the only friendly face they see from one day to the next,” he said.

Fewer than half of councils are still providing a meals on wheels service after six years of spending cuts, new figures have revealed.

Just two years ago, two thirds of councils were offering a daily hot meal to help support older and disabled people in their own homes – an idea first put into practice more than 70 years ago.

The service is not protected by law, however, and is being dropped by growing numbers of authorities forced to focus only on their statutory responsibilities. Advocates for meals on wheels, however, say the trend is a false economy because it runs counter to the aim of keeping people living independently and out of hospital or costly residential care.