OFFICIAL figures reveal that the real value of the average full-time wage in the North-East has fallen by £1,811 since the Government came to power. 

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings published by the Office for National Statistics show a fall of seven per cent since 2010.

In Yorkshire and the Humber it has dropped by £1,761, or 6.6 per cent. 

Northern TUC regional secretary Beth Farhat said: “Not only has unemployment risen in the last year but today we discover wages are still falling in real terms.

"Under the Coalition government full-time workers in the North-East have lost on average a staggering £1,811 from their pay packets.

"It’s little wonder than debt is going up and pay day lenders are circling when people find it harder to make ends meet. Here is further example of how austerity policies are failing working people and undermining our recovery. We need a clear alternative approach that rewards work and benefits the majority and not just a few.”

In last week's Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne highlighted the 17-year low for the proportion of workless households across the UK.

However low pay is a growing concern for workers across the North-East.

Pay increases are not expected to return to the historic norm of about two per cent for at least a couple of years, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility..

And a recent study by think-tank Resolution Foundation said nearly three out of four North-East workers are stuck on low pay.

It said of the 4.7 million UK workers who were low paid in 2002, more than a quarter did not see an improvement at any point over the next ten years.

A further 46 per cent drifted in and out of low pay, with fewer than one in five workers moving up the earnings ladder.