DISABILITY campaigners staged a pillow-themed protest on Tuesday against unjust benefits sanctions and the so-called “bedroom tax”.

Around 15 protesters spent the day outside Reading Minster in St Mary’s Butts armed with pillows, mattresses and sleeping bags to demonstrate the stress and lack of sleep the sanctions are causing.

The protest was organised by Berkshire Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) to rally support against the bedroom tax, which involves assessing for the number of bedrooms they actually need. If they are deemed to have too much unused living space, their benefit payments are reduced.

Berkshire DPAC spokeswoman Merry Cross said sanctions imposed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are putting pressure on disabled people who are not able to make meetings because they are in hospital, physiotherapy or appointments.

She added: “It affects more than just disabled people. We believe there is never any justification for removing all of a person’s income.

“That is clearly what is happening, it is unjust and that is what is pushing desperate people to food banks.

“The important thing is we made contact with a lot of disabled people and all of them are fairly desperate for help and wanted to know about DPAC.”