Over 66,000 West of England families will see their household income fall next month, as government cuts to Universal Credit come into effect, according to new figures obtained by Metro Mayor Dan Norris.

A £20-a-week universal credit uplift, introduced during the pandemic to assist households on low-incomes will be phased out in October.

"This cut of over £1,000 a year to millions of families is the biggest overnight cut to the social security system since World War Two," said Dan Norris.

"In the West of England 66,670 families will be affected, including shockingly 41,949 children. This comes at a time when energy prices are soaring. This will be a big squeeze on incomes of the people who can least afford it. The government should think again.

"This shows so-called "levelling up" is a sham. This is about pushing down the living standards of many hard-working families doing the toughest jobs."

The figures were obtained from analysis of the nine Parliamentary constituencies which sit in the West of England Combined Authority region.