Benefits office closing down

Shrewsbury's Social Security Office was closing for the final time today as part of Government streamlining plans for the service.

The offices at Whitehall, Monkmoor, which previously handled benefit queries and payments for thousands of people across the county, was shutting its doors this afternoon.

Paul Devine, Shropshire Public and Commercial Services union branch secretary, said it was the "final nail in the coffin" for benefit processing in the county.

He said there was only a few people left inside the building as most had been relocated.

The Department for Work and Pensions said 92 staff had been redeployed to other offices and 48 staff had accepted voluntary redundancy.

Mr Devine said there was no plan to have any sort of demonstration or gathering at the office today because the decision had already been made.

He said: "People have lost the point of contact with talking to people who are actually dealing with their benefits.

"Now face to face contact is highly unlikely. Benefits for people under pension age in Shropshire are now dealt with in Walsall or Worcestershire, and Stockport for people over pension age."

He said the Government was "asset stripping" as they were losing the valuable skills of people who had worked at the centre for years.