New figures reveal jobseekers are down 40% in Darrtford and 30% in Gravesend

As the government celebrated a record high number of UK residents in work, the Thames Gateway Jobseeker's Plus office recorded a "fantastic reduction" in claimants.

In Dartford, only 1,130 people claimed Jobseeker’s Allowance in January, compared to 1,805 in January last year.

In Gravesham, there were 1,525 people claiming benefits in January, down from 2,170 the year before.

Jenny Ellis, partnership manager for Thames Gateway in the Department for Work and Pensions, said: "We are really excited about these figures.

"We have continued to work really closely with our local employers, to help people locally get back into work."

Kent Jobseeker's Plus often find people work with Bluewater, other retailers, and in the hospitality industry.

Mrs Ellis admitted shift work is not always reliable, and there is a rise of jobseekers in January because of a shortage of jobs after Christmas.

"But even taking that into account we still have this fantastic reduction," she said.

"It's very buoyant, the employment locally."

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Youth unemployment is also down, with only 265 under 25s on Jobseeker’s benefits in Dartford in 2015, down 42 percent from 455 the year before.

In Gravesend, there were 385 youths on benefits in 2015, down 34 percent from 385 in January 2014.

Mrs Ellis said she hoped people were feeling the recovery.

She added: "It’s always a bit difficult because people will only go by their own experience."

Nationally, a record breaking 30.9 million or 73.2 percent of people are in work.

Unemployment has fallen to 5.7 percent, its lowest point in six years.

The number of young people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance has fallen every month for the past three years, and is now at its lowest rate since the 1970s.

The new benefits system - Universal Credit - is coming to Kent in March, and will start to be rolled out to Gravesham on May 18.