INVERCLYDE’S MP has held urgent talks with benefits bosses after being inundated with requests for help from local people affected by welfare cuts.

Ronnie Cowan met with the director of Motability at Westminster to discuss concerns surrounding Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Motability cars.

Mr Cowan said he arranged the meeting after he was contacted by several constituents who have been affected by the cuts.

He told the Telegraph: “A number of constituents are contacting my office to indicate they are losing their benefit entitlement and Motability car, which is their lifeline, however on appeal they are receiving them back.

"Nevertheless, it can be over eight weeks before a successful appeal and during that time they are without their car.

“I find it shocking that some of the most vulnerable people in society are being punished and suffering through the UK Government’s welfare cuts.”

Over 1,000 people in Inverclyde currently use the Motability scheme.

Mr Cowan says he has pressed the Ministry of Justice about the UK Government’s Personal Independence Payments (PIP) appeal process after receiving continued correspondence from constituents who have lost their benefit entitlement and Motability cars, while their appeals rumble on.

He discovered that 52 per cent of Greenock appeals in 2015 for PIP were successful. 

This rate rose to 57 per cent in the latest period, between January to September 2016.

Mr Cowan said: “I will continue to press the UK Government on their changes and how it’s adversely affecting my constituents.”