An amazing total of almost £200,000 in additional benefit entitlement has been secured for Biddulph residents by the town's local Citizens Advice branch, a new report has revealed.

The report, which is due to be discussed at a Staffordshire Moorlands District Council meeting next week, has found that volunteers at the Biddulph branch obtained a total of £198,201 in additional benefit entitlement for Biddulph residents between April 2019 and March 2021.

During the same time period, the local branch also prevented 25 residents from becoming homeless.

The Biddulph Citizens Advice branch, which is based on Tunstall Road, will present its full report to the district council's Overview and Scrutiny Panel on Monday (17th January).

The report also found that during this time period, a total of 1,093 people were advised and 7,714 hours of time were donated by its volunteers.

The report also included a case study of one of the local people they helped, 'James' (not his real name).

James, a retired widower, had become extremely concerned after receiving a letter from HMRC stating he owed £3,000 in tax and over £20,000 in untaxed interest, despite only being in receipt of a state pension and a small occupational pension from his late wife.

The Biddulph branch calculated that the untaxed interest amounted to only £250.56 and that James needed his tax code to be recalculated.

After being contacted by Citizens Advice, HMRC agreed that the tax code was incorrect and changed it immediately.

James then sent a letter of thanks to Citizens Advice, which said: "The gentleman who solved this problem for me was one of your volunteers.

"He was one of the nicest people you could meet and very clever at sorting this out.

"He was a star and I am very grateful as it was making me ill."

The upcoming council meeting is due to take place next Monday at 6pm.