Parents across Norfolk have just days to sign up to claim thousands of pounds in child benefit.

The benefit was given to nearly seven million families last August to help parents support their children under the age of 16.

However, families are able to extend their payments if their 16 to 19-year-old child is continuing education or training.

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Hundreds of thousands of teenagers will be receiving their GCSE results on Thursday which will affect many of their decisions.

For those continuing their studies, parents will have until August 31 to inform HRMC otherwise their payments will stop.

The change can be made online with 270,000 parents already extending their claim.

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Child benefit is worth up to £1,331 a year for the first or only child, and up to £881 a year for every additional child.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s director general for customer services, said: “Child Benefit is an important financial support for many households and we don’t want to see any eligible family miss out."

The benefit can continue to be paid for teens taking A levels, International Baccalaureate, home education, T levels and NVQs up to level three.