'It's diabolic': Lorry driver sacked for speeding says his £10,000-a-year Government handout is not enough

Nathan Gomersall, pictured with girlfriend Kimberley Heeley, claims he can't survive on this amount and believes it's unfair that those aged under 25 get less benefit money than older people ITN/Channel 5.

A LORRY driver who was sacked for speeding and driving without due care says his £10,000-a-year Government handout is not enough.

Nathan Gomersall, 22, from West Yorkshire, claims he can’t survive on this amount and believes it’s unfair that those aged under 25 get less benefit money than older people.

“It’s diabolic. Why should they be on more money than us?” he said. “We’ve got the same priorities they have. Why should we be split by age group?”

In a bid to save some cash, Nathan decides to try and catch some wild rabbits for dinner – much to the dismay of his animal-loving girlfriend Kimberley ITN/Channel 5

Nathan and girlfriend Kimberley Heeley reveal their difficulties on Channel 5 documentary On Benefits: Life on the Dole. Nathan is unemployed after losing his driving licence and must now pay hundreds of pounds to get it back.

He explains: “I got disqualified for six months for speeding and driving without due care and attention.”

“That was a real down point of my career. I lost my HGV licence. I need to pay all of that money to do that again, which I can’t on benefits.”

In a bid to save some cash, Nathan decides to try and catch some wild rabbits for dinner – much to the dismay of his animal-loving Kimberley, also 22.

“Life on benefits means sometimes you can’t afford to eat,” he said. “As you do in Yorkshire, you improvise and go out and catch your own food.

“It’s just like a cat going out to try and catch a mouse. The difference for us is we’re at the top of the food chain.”

The pair, who live in a rented one bedroom flat, receive just under £800 a month between them in job seeker’s allowance and housing benefit ITN/Channel 5

But his hunter-gatherer plan angers Kimberley who owns two rabbits of her own, called Bugsy and Malone, as well as two cats.

“It’s horrible, killing an innocent animal for the sake of it,” she said.

Hunting for rabbits is legal in the UK as long as a free running snare is used.

However, despite his enthusiasm, Nathan struggles to trap one.

“It’s still a learning process. I’m yet to catch one,” he said.

Nathan attempts to catch wild rabbits for his dinner

Fortunately, the pair receive their joint job seeker’s payment and can afford to do a supermarket shop instead.

Nathan said: “We do our food shopping fortnightly, we’ve got about £60. We can’t go too overpriced, it’s got to last us two weeks.”

Thrifty Kimberley always has her eye out for a bargain. “You find everything as cheap as you can,” she said. “It gives you a little bit more money to buy something else.”

The pair, who live in a rented one bedroom flat, receive just under £800 a month between them in job seeker’s allowance and housing benefit