A FORMER North-East mining community has more people claiming incapacity benefits than anywhere in England.

One in five of the working-age population in Easington District, in County Durham, claim the allowance, according to figures.

The Welsh former mining district of Merthyr Tydfil tops the national league, and the Prime Minister's Sedgefield constituency ranks 17th.

Sedgefield has 13.5 per cent of the working population claiming the benefits, compared with Easington's 20.1 per cent.

Eight of the top 30 in the list are in Wales, and there are none in the South.

Yesterday, Anna Lynch, the director of public health and health development at Easington Primary Care Trust (PCT), said moves were under way to address the situation.

In conjunction with the area's Strategic Partnership, the PCT has allocated £100,000 towards setting up a programme aimed at getting claimants back to work.

The number of people who are paid the benefit has trebled since the 1970s, which has prompted the Government to announce a crackdown on those fraudulently claiming benefits. Medical checks are to be toughened and a flat rate of £56 a week is to be introduced for the benefit.

Ms Lynch said Easington's heritage of heavy coal mining had taken a long-term toll on residents' health. She also said there were high levels of depravation in many of the district's communities.