THE Northern Echo's For Your Benefit column has saved its readers an estimated £6m, its collator can reveal.

Columnist John Gordon has answered questions from people wishing to know if they are receiving the State assistance they are entitled to.

John's For Your Benefit column, featured on this paper's Business Page every Friday, covers a myriad of issues, from the minefield of Income Support to Incapacity Benefit and the increasingly problematic area of State pension entitlement.

To mark the 300th column, The Northern Echo invited John to outline how For Your Benefit has increased wealth and awareness among its contributors.

He said the number of letters submitted has doubled over the past year, as have the number of people who find themselves better off as a result of writing in.

Their extra benefit entitlements range from 50p to £70 a week, but the average gain per individual is now a record £10 a week, he said.

"That £10 is £520 a year, and several thousand pounds over the years to come."

John keeps a record of individual savings and has calculated, based over an average of eight years, that the amount he has earned for people has broken the £6m barrier.

And there is no sign of things letting up.

Council taxes have rocketed, there are more generous benefit rules for older carers - although understanding the rules is not always easy - and, from October, the new Pension Credit should mean a lot more money for a lot more pensioners, as long as they claim it.

John said: "What the success of the column shows is that people either do not know where to go for advice or do not have confidence in the official sources of advice and information.

"In a time when more and more people should be claiming benefits - such as Pension Credit - that is a sad indictment.

"There has never been a greater need for simple information about complicated benefit rules - and I will do my best to continue to provide it."