POOR families in Cheshire West and Chester will lose up to £12.60 per week in housing benefit following the emergency budget measures.

That’s the claim by the Trades Union Congress which says almost 4,000 low income families living in private rented accommodation in this area will be hit harder than anywhere else in the region.

An analysis of figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reveals the top 10 worst hit areas in the North West are: Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East, Wirral, Liverpool, Sefton, Blackpool, Manchester, Bolton, Wigan and Rochdale.

North West TUC regional secretary Alan Manning said: “These cuts in housing benefit will hit some of our poorest and most vulnerable families, and will affect more than 130,000 households across our region.

“On average 130,000 families in the North West will find themselves out of pocket to the tune of £520 a year or £10 a week – but some of the poorest people in Liverpool, Blackpool, Wirral and parts of Cheshire will be hit even harder.

Š“The cuts have been buried in the small print of the budget and are extremely complicated – but it is crystal clear that some of the North West’s poorest families are now paying the price for the bankers recession, while the banks themselves are returning massive profits.”

Among the changes, due to take effect in April 2011, include a restriction on the number of bedrooms that can be claimed for and a cap on the amount that can be claimed depending on property size.