Dole queues lengthened by 640 people across Kent as unemployment increased nationally by a small margin.

There were 23,720 people claiming either jobseeker's allowance or universal credit in November, an increase of 640 on October, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The district with the largest increase was Thanet, where the claimant count increased by 110 people to 4,220.

People aged 25 to 49 made up the majority of the overall rise, up 255 to 11,975.

It comes as the government's controversial universal credit system came into full force across Kent last month.

Jobcentres in Maidstone and Tonbridge and Malling were the last in the county to fully adopt the benefit.

Nationally there were 1.38 million unemployed people from August to October, an increase of 20,000 on the previous three months.