Inside Britain's sicknote capitals as benefit claims rise by a third in Tory ... trends now

It was 20 years ago this month that a Labour work and pensions minister claimed Britain's inner-city neighbourhoods were suffering from a 'culture of worklessness'.

Des Browne claimed older men who had lost jobs in the manufacturing recession of the early 1980s had signed on to sickness-related benefits and never returned to work.

Two decades on, the highest number of incapacity claimants still reside in inner-city areas of Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, and deindustrialised towns like Hartlepool and Middlesbrough.

However, data released last week raised eyebrows when it revealed the areas that were home to the sharpest rises in claims included some of the most dyed-in-the-wool Tory communities anywhere in the country.

Among them are the leafy borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent - which has only ever been represented by Conservatives since the constituency was created in 1974.

The number of people making long-term sickness claims there was up a staggering 39.67 per cent on last year, analysis of DWP data showed.

When MailOnline visited Tonbridge on a recent weekday morning, during what would be considered traditional working hours for most, there was a gentle hubbub of activity.

The broad pavements were filled with people going in and out of brand name shops and independent businesses. 

Retail outlets including WHSmith, Aldi, Lidl stand side-by-side with high-end supermarkets like Waitrose.

Fancy coffee shops and greasy spoons both enjoy strong numbers of customers - with local upmarket café Finch Street full to the rafters.

Davina Nash, 45, and her sister Emma, 46, are currently off work for heart problems. The sisters moved to Tonbridge two years ago from East Grinstead in neighbouring Sussex. 

Both said that the town, which mainly consists of one large high street, is good for people with health problems because it is easy to get around.

Ms Nash said: 'I think the stats are probably correct. We don't know that many people around here but it seems right.

'It's always been quite a nice place. It's easy for people who are sick to get around.

'I think that's what attracts people like us to it.'

Retired postman Pete Wenham, 73, said he was shocked to hear the number of claimants had jumped from 1,351 to 1,887 in just 12 months.

'I am really surprised. You don't get any people sleeping rough or anything like that.

'The town has changed quite a bit – and loads of people are moving out of London because of the property prices.

'Flats are going up all over the place so that could be something to do with it. More people means higher numbers of claims, I suppose.

'When I was growing up there were department stores right along the high street and now you have to go out of the town to get what you need.

'The council are doing a bit better at filling empty shops and trying to bring some jobs into the town but they could do more.'

Standing outside the Tonbridge JobCentre Plus, unemployed Mervin said that he has seen an increase in the number of people inside during his appointments.

'I have mental health problems too – and I can't see anyone about it,' he said.

'But I go in there and I see half of them haven't got anything wrong with them. I haven't got a clue why it's happening though.'

Alan, 57, and wife of 34 years Debbie, were visiting the town from their home in posh nearby town Royal Tunbridge Wells.

Black cab driver and former teacher Alan put the uptick in sick claims down to the lack of opportunities in the town.

He blamed a local college moving courses away from the town for creating an exodus of local youngsters.

'When I taught at the college, you'd see people with two generations of family who had never had a job. And they were going to try and break the cycle.

'But these places are supposed to teach young people vocational skills so they can get jobs in this community.

'When the college moved most of its courses to Dartford, all that does is incentive youngsters to move towards London and never come back.'

Last month it emerged that 2.8million people have left the workforce due to long-term sickness – the most since the 1990s. 

Mental health problems affect more than a third of 16 to 34-year-olds out of work due to long-term illness and account for 69 per cent of all medical claims. 

The only areas where there were greater increases of incapacity benefit claims than Tonbridge and

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