The Government will today launch its crackdown on sickness benefits with ministers suggesting that half a million people could be ready to start work immediately.

Letters are being sent out to people on the Disability Living Allowance, asking them to submit reassessments.

There are currently around two million adults claiming the allowance.

The move comes after a trial review found that almost a third of people in Burnley and Aberdeen were fit for work and 38 per cent had the potential to work with the correct support.

By the end of this week 7,000 people will receive the letter from the Department for Work and Pensions followed by 10,000 a week by the end of April.

It is hoped that the first assessments will take place in June.

Out of the 1,626 people assessed in Burnley and Aberdeen a third of those questioned were taken off the DLA and instead put onto Jobseeker's Allowance.

Almost two fifths were told they could work with the right support and nearly a third were placed in a support group for Employment and Support Allowance. This means they will receive unconditional support and not be expected to look for work.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said the DLA had become an 'abused' benefit.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling: A life on benefits is 'no longer an option'

He said: 'It became very easy to get on to it and once you were on it you never had to look for work - it became a great way of shielding yourself from work.'

Employment minister Chris Grayling said the pilot study suggested that 500,000 on incapacity benefits are fit to start work immediately.

Mr Grayling said taxpayers had a right to expect that those fit to work looked for employment. He added: 'A life on benefits is no longer an option.'

About 2.1million people are on incapacity benefits, which is worth £91.40 a week.

Studies show that after two years on the benefit claimants are more likely to die or retire than get a job.

The Government has insisted that people who are genuinely too sick to work will continue to receive unconditional support from the state, and will not be expected to look for work.

They will also receive a higher rate of benefit than they currently receive.Private companies will be used to help people off benefits and back into work, and rewarded with fees of up to £14,000 for each individual case.

Critics claim the examinations, carried out by private sector doctors, are loaded against the claimants.