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Thousands of benefit claimants have won a landmark legal victory over the Tory government's welfare regime.

Three top judges today ruled a one-month time limit on appealing against a benefits decision is unlawful.

Instead the judges said the time limit should be 13 months after someone's benefits are rejected.

The Upper Tribunal, which rules in the most serious benefit disputes and includes a High Court judge on its panel, said its decision is likely to affect "many thousands" of cases "at the very least".

Carla Clarke of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), which brought the legal challenge, said the result was "fantastic".

She added: "It stands to provide justice for significant numbers of families wrongly denied the financial help to which they are entitled."

(Image: Getty)

CPAG brought the case on behalf of two women with serious mental and other health issues.

They were both denied the disability benefit Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) after meeting a disability assessor.

But they left it too late - five months in one case and 10 months in the other - to lodge their appeal.

The case challenged Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) rules which say anyone who wants to appeal must go through an internal system called 'mandatory reconsideration' first.

Those rules say most reconsiderations must be brought within a month.

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And because no one can mount a full appeal without going through the first step, people who missed the month's deadline found themselves without a shot at justice.

The tribunal judgement said it was "concerned" and ruled claimants should have a "statutory right" to appeal, even if they miss the one-month deadline.

It ruled the DWP had been wrongly stopping claimants from seeking justice since reconsiderations were introduced in 2013.

A DWP spokesman said: "We have received the tribunal’s decision and are considering the judgement.”