Simon Whyte, 30, lives in a single room of a shared house in Brighton, paid for by Government benefits.

He moved to Brighton last summer and has been looking for work as a landscape gardener, a job for which he has eight years' experience.

He said: "I lived in Brighton for seven years before moving away to Bedford in 1998 but even though there's less work around here I wanted to come back as it's such a great place to live. The work I am best at is seasonal so I am hoping I can get a job when the summer months arrive."

Simon smokes and enjoys a drink, averaging 15 pints of beer and 25 grammes of tobacco each week.

He said: "I was pleased to see the alcohol duties frozen and nothing major happen to tobacco prices. They are still too high, making what should be an occasional treat into an unaffordable luxury."

Simon's weekly food shop comes to about £20. He has no travel expenses as he does not have a car and prefers to walk rather than pay for public transport.

At face value Simon appears to be no better or worse off as a result of the budget.

However, there was no change to unemployment benefit levels and Simon said: "With the rise in inflation I feel I will be a little worse off in real terms as my money won't go so far and every little helps."