Thousands of calls from jobless Oxfordshire people seeking their first benefit payments went unanswered because of computer failures, a leaked report has revealed.

Jobseekers had to wait up to six weeks to get their money because of the problems with a new call centre system at a now defunct centre in Banbury.

Of 46,914 callers to the base between April and September, 16,294 -- or 35 per cent -- failed to get through. The centre has now stopped taking jobseekers' calls and enquiries are now handled in Dundee, Scotland.

The delays to processing Jobseekers Allowance claims follow staffing cuts as part of the Government's decision to scrap 80,000 civil service Jobs over three years.

Under the changes, the department for work and pensions (DWP) has stopped handling most benefit claims at local offices and tells people to ring call centres instead.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) blamed the problems on the job cuts and a new computer system.

It was put in by EDS, the company that also supplied computers to the Child Support Agency, whose failure to obtain payments from absent fathers was recently condemned by Tony Blair.

And, last week, the firm agreed to pay HM Revenue & Customs £71m in compensation for the poor performance of its tax credits IT system.

But a DWP spokesman insisted the teething problems were being overcome, with 90 per cent of calls answered last week.

The Banbury call centre stopped working with the DWP two months ago shortly after the period relating to these figures. The spokesman said all 20 staff were now working on other contracts.

MPs have been deluged with complaints about the new system.

Banbury MP Tony Baldry said: "This sytem is incredibly frustrating for both claimants and staff who have to deal with angry people.

"We have seen the same thing happen with the Child Support Agency. Most of my inquiries concern the CSA and the Government has spent years grappling with the system.

"These new systems should br trialled before they are rolled out as once they are, it is impossible to turn the clock back."