NEW research from the Trade Union Council has revealed that a staggering 600,000 working age adults in the south west of England are living in poverty.

TUC analysis of official poverty figures published yesterday has found that working age poverty in the south west has fallen slowly since 2010/11, despite regional unemployment falling significantly.

A worker is considered to be in working age poverty if their household income is less than 60 per cent of the median household income (after housing costs).

The proportion of working age people living in poverty was 20 per cent in 2010/11, and 18 per cent in 2016/17according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.

This slow progress comes despite unemployment in the south west falling by a considerable amount - from 6.6 per cent in 2011 to 3.6 per cent in 2017.

TUC Regional Secretary for the south west Nigel Costley said: “If you work hard, you shouldn’t have to worry about making ends meet.

“Yet despite rising employment, lots of working families in the south west are still living in poverty.

“Unless ministers reverse their planned cuts to universal credit, things will get much worse.

“Working people in the south west desperately need a new deal.

“First of all, this means cracking down on exploitative zero-hours contracts and sham self-employment.

“We also need more public investment in national and regional infrastructure, as well as our public services, to support the creation of decent jobs that a family can live on.”