The unpaid mayor of a small English town has applied for unemployment benefits, but been rejected since he spends too much time at mandatory civic events, the Daily Telegraph said on Thursday.
Roy Miller lost his full-time job at a print factory, which closed at the weekend after laying off its 400 employees.
Miller, who is 53 and married with two children, was refused the £55 per week handed out to other sacked employees, because of his unpaid mayoral activities.
”It’s an insult. I might be the number-one citizen, but I still have bills and a mortgage to pay like all the other workers,” he said.
”I’ve never claimed a penny off the state, but now just because I’m doing my bit for the town they say I don’t qualify for any help. It stinks.”
Miller receives a £7 500 allowance per year as a ward councillor for Barnsley, located in South Yorkshire in the north of England. He has been a Labour member of the city’s council for the past 18 years, but picks up no extra pay as mayor.
A Job Centre spokesperson declined to comment on the case but said that welfare recipients have to be ”available for work 40 hours a week”. — Sapa-AFP