More than 120,000 Norfolk and Waveney households eligible for means-tested benefits will receive the first of three cost of living payments totalling £900 this spring.

And a further 118,700 people on disability benefits will get a separate £150 payment and a £300 pensioner payment amid the ongoing inflationary crisis.

Benefits that could make claimants eligible for the £301 payment include Universal Credit, tax credits, Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support.

Eastern Daily Press: Jeremy Hunt

Eligible individuals do not need to apply for payments, as they are made automatically.

The payments will come from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) between April 25 and May 17.

The estimated number of households for the means-tested payment are Breckland (13,900), Broadland (10,100), Great Yarmouth (16,300), north Norfolk (10,600), Norwich (19,300), south Norfolk (11,300), west Norfolk (16,600) and east Suffolk (25,500).

Jeremy Hunt, chancellor of the exchequer, said: “I know that times are tough, which is why a key focus of the spring budget was supporting people with the cost of living and helping people into well-paid work.

“We’ve also extended the Energy Price Guarantee to hold bills down until energy prices fall.”