A BENEFIT claimant was hit with sanctions while they were being treated in hospital, research has found.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has stopped benefits more than 400,000 times since 2010, according to data compiled by the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (SPICe).

The figure does not include sanctions that were later overturned on appeal.

Reasons included claimants missing appointments due to being at a job interview or being hospitalised.

SNP MSP Ruth Maguire said: “This is a staggering figure, that shows the extent of the deliberate cruelty inflicted by the DWP axemen.

“Sanctions have been shown to leave people in complete destitution and are a key factor in the rise of foodbanks under the Tories.

“With our limited powers over welfare, we’re building a Scottish social security agency with dignity and respect at its heart – and we’ve refused to use the discredited sanctions regime in our new employability service.”

A Freedom of Information request by the SNP also found that more than55% of appeals to overturn Personal Independent Payment (PIP) assessments in Scotland were successful in 2016/17.

Just under 8,000 Scots and around 67,000 people in the whole of the UK appealed the private assessors’ decision to take away their disability benefits last year - and 65% of these decisions were overturned overall.