New statistics show that 30.4pc of 20 to 64-year-olds in Great Yarmouth were claiming in May this year.

This figure is more than double the rate in other areas of the county, such as neighbouring Broadland, where just 13.3pc of working age adults claim.

Experts and politicians have said the figures should “set the alarm bells ringing” amid fears that many working age people are turning down jobs to claim benefits instead.

The figures, from the TaxPayers' Alliance, show that the largest number of claimants in Yarmouth are in their 30s and 40s.

Almost two in five people from Yarmouth in their 30s (38.4pc) receive Universal Credit, as do more than a third of those in their 40s (36.2pc). 

Even among 60 to 64-year-olds, one in five in the town is on the benefit. 

Yarmouth also........

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