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4,600 disabled people were wrongly stripped of their benefits, the Tories admitted today in a fresh humiliation for their welfare regime.

The victims were punished for failing to attend meetings about Personal Independence Payment (PIP) - but were later found to have a "good reason" for not turning up.

They will now be paid back from the new year after a tribunal ruled against the Tory government last month.

The confession - buried at the bottom of a written statement hours before MPs leave for Christmas - is yet another legal defeat for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

DWP chiefs are already reviewing all 1.6million PIP cases and paying back 220,000 people following a separate defeat in the High Court.

But the backlogged department has taken five months to plough through fewer than 10% of the cases in that review.

(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

And today ministers gave no guarantee as to when the new batch of 4,600 people will be paid.

A 62-year-old man, 'OM', brought the latest tribunal after he was denied benefits while being transferred to PIP from old-style DLA.

He was accused of failing to attend an appointment with PIP test firm Atos after a lengthy to-and-fro over his mental difficulties.

Minister for Disabled People Sarah Newton said: "The decision states that in these instances claimants’ DLA awards should be reinstated, until a final decision on their PIP claim, and back paid, as necessary.

"We accept that the same approach applies where claimants who failed to provide information or evidence were later found to have ‘good reason’ for the failure to comply.

"The Department has been working at pace and taking the necessary steps required to implement the ruling.

"We expect around 4,600 people to gain as a result of this review exercise, all claimants who benefit from the Upper Tribunal decision will be notified by the Department."