Over half of West Dunbartonshire residents who contacted Citizens Advice Bureau last year did so in relation to benefit payments.

The charity helped more than 4,686 people across the area in the last 12 months – dishing out guidance 21,591 times.

Of those, 11,263 pieces of advice were regarding benefits, including the controversial Tory Universal Credit system. The local trend was repeated across Scotland where more than two-fifths (44 per cent) of enquiries also concerned benefits.

Other areas of concern West Dunbartonshire locals were advised on were: debt (3,461 times), housing (979), finance and charitable support (762), and employment (942).

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) unlocked an incredible £2.8million of financial gains for people in West Dunbartonshire who they helped out.

However, debt was the second most asked about topic, a trend which was also repeated across Scotland.

The stats were unveiled in CAS’s annual report, which also revealed that it referred 13,000 people to foodbanks in 2019.

The report said: “What the Advice in Scotland data shows is that people across Scotland continue to feel the squeeze on incomes, whether that is through social security payments, unsustainable levels of debt or low pay and insecure work.”

The charity has called for the next UK Government to “put living standards at the heart of its agenda”.

Derek Mitchell, CAS chief executive, said: “With a footprint in every community in Scotland, the Citizens Advice network helped hundreds of thousands of people in 2018.

“Last year, we unlocked financial gains of £131million for people in Scotland – that gives you an idea of the scale of what people are missing out on if they don’t turn to us for advice and support.”

He added: “We’re an independent and impartial charity, but the data from our state of the nation report makes clear that the next UK Government simply must have living standards at the heart of its agenda.

“From issues such as debt and social security to energy, we are seeing people struggle.

“Boosting people’s incomes while dealing with rising costs must be a priority for policymakers.”

Employment matters were also a common reason for people to seek help, with 43,000 pieces of advice issued across Scotland, covering queries including pay and conditions.

As well as dealing with more than 700,000 queries during 2018-19, staff and volunteers helped fill out almost 500,000 official forms – leading to more than £130m of financial gain for clients.

Meanwhile, the charity’s Advice for Scotland website received more than 3.7 million page views.

The most popular part of the website was a page offering advice on how to appeal parking tickets handed out on private ground.