BOLTON'S council tenants in work are paying £4.50 a week on their rent to subsidise their neighbours on housing benefit.

Now housing chiefs are campaigning for the Government to change the way housing benefit is funded to make it pay for people to work.

Bolton Council has an annual housing benefit bill of around £24 million.

But they receive only £19 million of this back as a subsidy from the Government.

The shortfall has to go on the rents of those people who pay a full rent. Cllr Noel Spencer, chairman of Bolton's housing committee, said: "We have the situation where people are paying £4.50 a week towards the cost of their neighbours' housing benefit bill.

"We will be appealing on behalf of the people of Bolton for the Government to change this anomaly.

"It is in line with the Government's Welfare to Work policy which aims to create incentives for people to come off benefits and go into work."

He will call on Bolton South-east MP Brian Iddon to help because it was something he had spoken out against when he was chairman of Bolton's housing committee.

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