More than 3,000 families in Stoke-on-Trent will gain from the removal of the two-child benefit cap, government figures show.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her Budget speech that the controversial policy would be scrapped from next April.

Under the cap, which was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, families could only claim the child element of Universal Credit for their first two children.

According to figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions there are 3,050 families across Stoke-on-Trent's three parliamentary constituencies who will benefit from the cap's removal, with a total of 11,180 children in these households.

In Newcastle-under-Lyme, there are 490 families who stand to gain, along with 330 in the Staffordshire Moorlands. Stoke-on-Trent North MP David Williams said he 'strongly welcomed' the scrapping of the two-child cap.

He said: "This change will ease pressure on thousands of low-income households and lift children out of poverty.

"More than 4,000 children in Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove will benefit.

"It was never right that children paid the price for their parents' circumstances, and this decision reflects the values of fairness and decency that local people expect."

Stoke-on-Trent South MP Allison Gardner said: "By delivering on our promise to scrap the unfair two-child cap, we are directly investing in the future of our most vulnerable children.

"In areas like Normacot, where child poverty rates are tragically high at 76 per cent, this change will lift hundreds of families out of desperate poverty.

"This decision is a statement of our values, we will not punish children for the circumstance of their birth.

"It will lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a single parliament since comparable records began."

DWP figures showing how many families will benefit from the removal of the two-child cap in each Staffordshire parliamentary constituency:

• Burton and Uttoxeter – 850
• Cannock Chase – 630
• Kingswinford and South Staffordshire – 280
• Lichfield – 380
• Newcastle-under-Lyme – 490
• Stafford – 470
• Staffordshire Moorlands – 330
• Stoke-on-Trent Central – 1210
• Stoke-on-Trent North – 1090
• Stoke-on-Trent South – 750
• Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge – 360