The government will remove a pandemic-inspired benefit increase on Wednesday and thousands of people in Windsor and Maidenhead will lose around £ 1,000 a year, according to the figures.

The decision to end the £ 20-a-week universal credit hike met with strong opposition, with the prime ministers of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales among the politicians and activists of foreground who urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to drop the contentious proposals.

In a letter, the leaders said there was no reason to justify cutting crucial financial support at a time when UK residents face “unprecedented squeeze on household budgets”.

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show there were 8,238 people claiming universal credit in Windsor and Maidenhead in July – the latest data available.

Of these, 57% did not have a job.

They are among more than 5.8 million claimants across the UK who may be struggling to make ends meet, anti-poverty campaigners say.

Despite months of campaigning, the hike is due to end on October 6, with applicants due to receive final payments containing the hike until October 13.

Anti-poverty charity, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said the end of the increase represented the “biggest overnight reduction in social security” and claimed the government’s decision could plunge as far as half a million people in poverty.

JRF’s Katie Schmuecker said: “The Prime Minister is leaving millions of people hungry and destitute with his eyes wide open.”

She added that the decision “goes against the government’s mission to unite and upgrade our country.”

“People’s bills won’t get any cheaper from Wednesday and families are already worried about how they will weather a looming cost-of-living crisis,” she said.

“This decision shows complete disregard for the consequences.”

A government spokesperson said: “We have always been clear that the increase in universal credit and the leave plan were temporary.

“They were designed to help claimants get through the economic shock and financial turmoil of the most difficult stages of the pandemic, and they did.”

He said Universal Credit would continue to provide support to people who are and are not working and added that it was right for the government to focus on its Jobs Plan, which aims to help people regain a job. employment and helping those who are already working to progress.