1,000 families had benefits capped

The vast majority of households affected include young children, with charities warning that the cuts risk a detrimental impact on people's health and wellbeing.

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show that between the introduction of the cap in April 2013 and February this year, 443 families had their housing benefits docked in Shropshire, 655 in Telford & Wrekin, and 131 in Powys.

Couples with children are limited to an annual income from all benefits of £20,000, or £385 a week. In London, the cap is higher, at £23,000.

There are lower rates for single parents and households without children.

Over the last five years, 42 households in Shropshire, 76 in Telford & Wrekin, and 11 in Powys, were docked more than £100 a week.

The majority of capped claimants were single parents with children.

Iona Aylen, generalist services manager for Citizens Advice Shropshire, said: "Last year Citizens Advice Shropshire helped 2,989 clients with benefits and tax credits issues.

"Many of those clients affected by the benefit cap will be on a low income and renting their homes. The benefit cap may not only effect their personal budget but also have a detrimental effect on their health and wellbeing.

"Anyone with a question or concern should get in touch with us at the earliest chance so we can help them. They can get advice from us in person, over the phone or by post. For more information visit cabshropshire.org.uk/get-advice/".

With the unemployment rate at 4.2 per cent, its lowest level since 1975, the Work and Pensions Secretary, Esther McVey, said the policy is working.

She said: "Every child deserves the best start in life, and we know that children living in a household with someone in work do better in school, have better educational attainment and are more likely to have a job later in life than children growing up in a home where no one works.

"In the past there could have been families living in cycles of worklessness without the proper support or incentives to move into work with the security and peace of mind that comes from a regular wage.

"We now have record employment in the UK with more than one thousand people moving into jobs each and every day since 2010."

There are several situations in which people are exempt from the cap, including when they receive working tax credits, or claim carer's or guardian's allowances.

In February this year, the most recent month for which data is available, 202 families were still having their benefits capped in Shropshire, 249 in Telford & Wrekin, and 58 in Powys.

In November 2016, the limit for benefits to be capped was lowered, from £500 a week nationwide. Prior to this, only 27 families in Shropshire were having their benefits capped, 45 in Telford & Wrekin, and 42 in Powys.

Since April 2013, more than 178,000 families in Great Britain have had their benefits capped. Of those, 84 per cent had children aged 10 and under.