Unusual disability claims surge, pushing UK benefits budget to £320bn

The number of people claiming disability benefits for food intolerances has soared 500 per cent in five years.

Latest figures also show a rise in people suffering with acne, tennis elbow and writer's cramp who are paid not to work.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed that in 2021 there were 12 people who claimed they could not work because of food intolerances.

By January this year that had risen to 78, who are each paid £114 a week.

While the exact food intolerances were not revealed, they can often cause bloating, diarrhoea and stomach cramps.

The figures show a 35 per cent rise over the same period in people claiming out-of-work benefits - known as personal independence payments (PIP) - for acne.

There has also been a more than doubling in claims for tennis elbow - from 207 to 425 - and a 40 per cent rise in claims for writer's cramp, when the muscles contract involuntarily.

In other examples, first reported by The Sun, there has been a near doubling of those out of work because of constipation - from 84 to 166.

More than 5,000 people are now claiming PIP for mood disorders and nearly 2,800 for gout.

Britain's benefits budget is coming under increasing scrutiny as experts forecast a total bill in excess of £320 billion by the end of the year.

Tory work and pensions spokesman Helen Whately told the Daily Mail: 'No wonder taxpayers feel they are being taken for fools. [These] sickness benefits make a mockery of a system intended to help people struggling with disability. The system is blatantly out of control.'

The DWP said: 'These claims, which represent a small proportion of PIP, started increasing several years ago. We are bringing in reforms to save nearly £2billion this Parliament.'

One of the largest claims is for inflammatory arthritis, with 71,000 made this year - a rise of almost 6 per cent since 2021.