The number of people claiming unemployment benefits across Dumbarton, the Vale and Clydebank has fallen by 100 in the past year.

New figures released by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed that the region is bucking the national trend of rising unemployment.

But DWP staff were not able to disclose how many people in the area had their unemployment benefit stopped due to sanctions.

Across Scotland unemployment increase by 2,000 in the past year year and now stands at 166,000, making the unemployment rate six per cent - worse than the UK rate at 5.3 per cent.

In West Dunbartonshire the claiminant count for October was 2132 – a drop of 100 or four per cent compared to the same time the previous year.

However, the claimant count for people aged 18-24 has increased in the same period going up by 19 to 504 claimaints, a rise of four per cent.

Last month we revealed that the number of claimants for Job Seekers Allowance in Dumbarton and Alexandria had fallen to the lowest on record.

In Alexandria, 388 people were claiming the unemployment benefit in September, down 24 per cent from 511 at the same time last year.

In Dumbarton the claimant rate has fallen 25 per cent, from 533 claimants in September 2014 to 402 last month.

DWP operations manager Susan Ward said: “We’re pleased to see that there is a reduction in the claimant count. It’s now about the support that we can continue to offer in the local area and working with employability partners.”