THE revelation that six of the top ten areas in the country pocketing more benefit handouts than anywhere else are on Merseyside is immensely depressing.

Visitors to Liverpool city centre find a buzzing, thriving environment with new hotels and restaurants springing up almost weekly and an increasing air of affluence.

But in some parts of the conurbation, deprivation and lack of hope still prevail, and the research shows that the area in the UK getting the most in benefit payments is Knowsley, with £149 million last year, closely followed by Walton with £141 million.

And coming in in ninth place is Birkenhead with a £121.5 million figure.

Our state benefit system is an essential safety net for those in need and is something in which we can all take pride in a caring society.

But, unfortunately, some families see it as ‘their right’ and a direct alternative to working.

There are households where no-one has ever worked and their state handouts are regarded as wages, such is the generational mindset.

It should be that working is better financially than being on the dole, along with the sense of worth that self-sufficiency brings.

We hear lots about the so-called Northern Powerhouse, but is is all just rhetoric?

These benefit hotspot figures, with areas of Leeds and Manchester also in the top ten, starkly demonstrate the need for improvement in job opportunities and wealth creation in the North.

Louise Bours, Ukip North West MEP