MORE than 76,000 people on Merseyside receiving incapacity benefit will be assessed to see if they are fit for work from today as part of a government crackdown on the “sicknote culture”.

Claimants will undergo a test on which they must score more than 15 “points” if they are to continue to receive state help.

While the Government insists the process will be “more human” and the most seriously disabled and terminal ill claimants will not be expected to find work and receive extra support, the remainder will be tested.

But Merseyside politicians warned the system was not fool-proof, and were concerned that some claimants with genuine need would be left without support.

The latest figures reveal in Liverpool alone there are 29,530 people who are currently deemed unable to work. The borough with the second highest number of claimants is Wirral, with 15,080 in receipt of the soon-to-be-scrapped benefit.

In Sefton, the number is 12,220, Knowsley 9,870 and St Helens 9,430.

Claimants will be assessed on their capability to walk, stand and sit, bend and kneel and reach, including being able to pick up a coin from the floor.

But government employment minister Chris Grayling said these original “work capability assessment” tests will not be used in isolation, having become a “controversial” way of testing people’s fitness.

According to a review of the previous scheme by Professor Malcolm Harrington, one woman with suicidal tendencies was rudely treated by her assessor who told her to “stop crying and hurry up because I need to go and pick up my kids from school”.