MINISTERS have been accused of covering up the true scale of unemployment in Plymouth.

Government critics claim that the city's jobless total is being 'hidden' with nearly 1,000 working age men aged 60-64 claiming Pension Credit instead of Jobseeker's Allowance.

Under benefit rules men in this age group are able to claim Pension Credit instead of Jobseeker's Allowance if they lose their job.

Conservatives argue this means they do not appear in the official unemployment claimant count figures each month and do not receive proper back to work support.

They say the number of dole claimants in Plymouth would rise by 16 per cent if they were taken into account.

But this is disputed by ministers who say no one is hidden from the figures, and people on pension credit still receive back to work support.

It comes as latest jobless figures showed the number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance in Plymouth fell last month to 6,465 from 6,662 in October. This is still well up on the 4,338 claimants in November last year.

In the South Hams the jobless total rose on the month from 899 to 921 in November, and in Caradon from 1,135 to 1,226.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Theresa May accused the Government of concealing the full extent of unemployment.

She said: "The closer you look at the unemployment figures the worse the situation appears. Yet again Labour are moving people around the benefits system to cover up the true scale of worklessness in Britain.

"What makes this even worse is that hundreds of thousands of older people are being written off from ever finding work again."

But Employment Minister Jim Knight said: "No one is hidden from the figures as everyone who claims pension credit but is of working age is recorded in the monthly statistics issued by the Office for National Statistics.

"Men older than 60 can choose to claim Jobseekers Allowance or pension credit - accessing back-to-work support through both. The current number who choose to claim pension credit or are on income support rather than JSA is 183,200, a fall of 73,000 since 1997."