Working women in Dorset will be feeling the pinch have lost £43 a week in real terms since the crash of 2008, according to the TUC.

The TUC South West has analysed figures from the Office of National Statistics to calculate the 13 per cent fall in average pay.

Men in Dorset have seen a slight increase of £5 a week – a one per cent rise in real terms.

The effect has widened the gender pay gap up to 18.7 per cent compared to the national average of 17.1 per cent, the TUC says.

It says the average worker in the South West has lost out on £14,420 in real earnings since 2008, the worst hit UK region after London.

Workers are suffering the longest real wage squeeze in more than 200 years, with average pay packets not set to recover to their 2008 level until 2024, the TUC said.

Nigel Costley, TUC regional secretary, said: “Ministers need to wake up and start listening to workers outside the Westminster bubble. We need to see public servants get the pay rise they’ve earned, and unions given the right to bargain in more workplaces.”