ALTHOUGH unemployment figures have fallen, which is good news, pay is at its lowest growth rate since 2001 according to official figures from the independent office of national statistics.

What this means for ordinary people is that as the price of your shopping, gas and electric and petrol continue to rise, the money you have in your pocket remains the same.

There is only so much budgeting and cost cutting hard working families can do before they eventually run into financial trouble.

It is really unfair that people who work all the hours they can, find themselves struggling to pay the bills.

Life is never a bed of roses for anyone but a fair day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay, at least enough to live on without worry.

Clr Stephen Burns Swanlow Ward