"SHAMBOLIC" universal credit plans should be put on hold, according to one South Lakes MP.

Around one in four people are expected to be left without income for over six weeks while the scheme is rolled out.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron said: "I'm hugely concerned that Universal Credit is pushing people further into debt and putting an even greater strain on public services.

"People I meet at my surgeries are in increasingly desperate situations and they need the government to listen.

"The fact that around one in 10 people on Universal Credit are having to wait over 10 weeks to receive their income is absolutely shambolic.

"The government must put these plans on hold until they have their own house properly in order because the situation at the moment is simply not good enough."