THE number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the Malvern Hills area fell by 8.5 per cent in September, according to the Benefits Agency.

The figure for the area dropped by 40 to 428, giving the it the second lowest unemployment rate in the West Midlands, at 1.3 per cent of the workforce base. Evesham has the lowest amount of claimants, at 1.1 per cent.

At the same time last year 114 more people were claiming unemployment benefit in and around Malvern, meaning the total number of claimants has dropped by 0.3 per cent.