AT least one in five people depend on state benefits in many of the country's old industrial heartlands, new research disclosed today.
A study by the GMB union showed that in some former mining towns, almost one in three people of working age claimed benefits.
The union said many areas were still suffering from the legacy of the decline in heavy industry during years when the Conservatives were in power.
The study of 203 areas of Britain revealed that in 36 of them, one in five people depended on state benefits.
The highest percentage was 29 per cent in the former South Wales mining area of Blaenau Gwent, followed by 28.7 per cent in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, 28.6 per cent in Knowsley, Merseyside, 27.6 per cent in Glasgow and 27.5 per cent in Liverpool.
Suffering
More people of working age claimed state benefits in the North, Wales, Scotland and the North West compared with other parts of the country.
Paul Kenny, senior official of the GMB, said: "These figures show the areas still suffering from the legacy of the Thatcher years and the decline in manufacturing which has continued.
"Trade unions are still picking up the pieces in terms of industrial diseases like asbestosis, which have carried on even though the industries have disappeared."
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