stationery

“People say somebody’s trash is somebody’s treasure,” said Olivia Jones, 36, an Irvine resident and owner of small stationery business Pink Coast Studio.

Carl Walker, chair of the Jersey Consumer Council, said: "It could cost up to £400 per child to prepare them for school – not just uniforms, but stationery, lunch boxes, haircuts, coats, everything. It's absolutely extortionate."

Helen Dickinson, the BRC's chief executive, said there was some respite for parents as the new academic year approaches, with cheaper clothing, books and stationery.

Business owners, like Mohammed Hanif Waka, who owns a stationery shop in the capital, says he has lost many customers since putting up prices.

She uses Poundland to pick up snacks for her sons' packed lunches, stationery and birthday cards for school, plus shampoo, shower gel and cleaning products.