What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A man who was forced to give up work with heart problems had his benefits axed for failing to complete a capability assessment - after suffering a heart attack during the examination.

During the appointment, he was told he was having a cardiac arrest, forcing the nurse to stop the test.

Two weeks later he got a letter from Jobcentre Plus saying he had withdrawn from the assessment and, as such, was being sanctioned.

The anonymous man took his case to to Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams.

A spokesman for the MP said: “No-one is saying people on benefits shouldn’t have to look for work when appropriate, but this government is going beyond the pale in using underhand tactics to force vulnerable people off benefits to massage the unemployment data.”

The man is just one of a string of people who have come forward to the MP.

An anonymous woman was sanctioned after missing an appointment despite phoning on the morning of her assessment to explain she suffers from widespread arthritis, needs two knee replacements, cannot use her thumbs and struggles to write.

But the Department of Work and Pensions wrote to her to say they ‘doubt the reasons she provided’ and asked her to write informing of her illness meaning she was sanctioned even though she followed the correct procedures.

A further example includes a man who began claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance in November, 2012, after living off redundancy payment and has been seeking employment ever since.

He received a letter from the Jobcentre Plus office in Preston saying his allowance had been stopped because he had failed to attend an interview the day before.

However, he had attended at noon and saw an adviser for a 30-minute appointment.

Other agencies have also been accused over their administration of benefits. Earlier this month we reported how Atos wrote to a woman in a coma asking her why she was not working.

Hit Channel 4 series Benefits Street has also put the benefits system in the spotlight.