Another 240 people began claiming unemployment benefits in Kent last month, official figures show.

There were 18,445 people on either jobseeker’s allowance or universal credit in the county in October according to the Office for National Statistics.

Thanet suffered the largest increase of 70, taking its total claimant count to 2,725.

Swale had the second largest increase, up 55 to 1,945, while Dover and Shepway both jumped by 40 to 1,395 and 1,345 respectively.

Elsewhere, rises were small, with Medway up 30 to 3,470, Canterbury up 25 to 1,335, while Ashford (1,120), Tonbridge and Malling (720) and Tunbridge Wells (570) all increased by five.

Only four regions enjoyed modest falls, with Dartford down 20 to 780, Gravesham down 15 to 1,290 and Maidstone and Sevenoaks both down five to 1,215 and 535 respectively.

The increases in Kent were not reflected across the UK.

The whole of the South East saw unemployment fall by 3,000 to 170,000 in the three months to September, which is down 13,000 compared to the same time last year.

The region’s unemployment rate was 3.6%, down from 3.9% a year earlier.

Nationally, there were 1.6 million unemployed people from July to September, down 37,000.

The unemployment rate was 4.8%, the lowest since the same period in 2005.