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A cruel Tory benefits shake-up has forced 75,000 disabled people to give up their adapted cars, it has emerged.

Motability bosses revealed the shocking figure tonight as MPs slammed huge reserves and bumper pay of up to £1.7million at the charity's parent firm.

Motability is a charity that leases adapted cars to people, paid for by disability benefit.

But thousands of its clients have lost out after being moved from the old Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to the new Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which Tory ministers launched in 2013.

Tonight Motability director Declan O'Mahoney confessed that figure now stands at 75,000 people - 43% of the 175,000 Motability clients who have moved from DLA to PIP so far.

He told MPs on the Treasury and Work and Pensions committees: "They either drop to standard rate [of payment] or nil, and as a consequence they’ve had to leave the scheme."

Labour MP Neil Coyle said he was "appalled".

He added: "The government is denying independence and chances of retaining work to these 75,000 disabled people."

Grilled by Mr Coyle, Tory disabilities minister Sarah Newton insisted: "We’ve got some 104,000 people who now can benefit from having a mobility car who didn’t before.

"Some people, yes, have lost their car because they are no longer eligible, but there has been another group of people that benefit."

But Ms Newton also claimed: "There was no way of knowing what the position would be between the move of people from DLA onto PIP.”

That is despite her own department predicting in 2012 that 500,000 fewer people would get benefits under the new system by 2016.

The 75,000 people have been offered a £2,000 transitional payment.

It came as Motability bosses were grilled about revelations from the charity's main operating company, Motability Operations Group.

Last month it emerged Motability Operations Group's chief executive Mike Betts took home £1.7million in salary, benefits, pension, bonus, and a three-year deferred incentive scheme.

(Image: Parliament Live)

Accounts also revealed the firm was sitting on accumulated reserves of £2.4billion.

Tory MP Heidi Allen confronted the chief executive saying: "Mike, your salary's £1.7million.

"That's more than most chairs in FTSE companies earn.

"This is taxpayers' money - of benefits paid to people with disabilities.

"Are you really running the company absolutely with that charitable ethos in mind?"

Mr Betts replied: "I've got no role in setting my own pay. I came in with a mandate to transform the company and run it along commercial lines."

(Image: Parliament Live)

He said customer service had been "transformed" on his watch, adding: "We're better than John Lewis, better than Waitrose, better than Amazon."

But Tory minister Ms Newton said: “I think it is quite shocking, the level of remuneration. And I do think there are some serious questions about the governance."

She added: “It risks bringing its good reputation into disrepute."

And committee chair Frank Field told Mr Betts: "A large large large amount of money has gone into your pocket.

"You started rambling on that you went round and talked to other disability organisations. Did you consult them about your pay?

Mr Betts replied: "No, Mr Chairman."

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Labour MP John Mann also accused Mr Betts of giving the committee "false information" that regulators said the firm should have such big reserves "when that’s not the case."

He added: “What we have here is a very good scheme that now has become rather bloated where there is no risk.

"And little bits on the side, little bits of extra profit for the banks, little bit of comfort for you."

But Motability Operations chair Neil Johnson insisted much of the £2.4billion 'reserves' were not reserves at all because they were locked up in cars.

"There’s not a bank account sitting there with £2.4billion in it," he said.

Mr Betts added: "We buy and sell 650 cars a day, 7 days a week.

"That means we’re turning over £14million a day and if that starts to go wrong that can very quickly start to escalate into something quite bad.”