ONE in three youngsters in Blackburn and Burnley are living in poverty, according to new research.

Almost 35 per cent of children make up families in the two towns living below the poverty line once housing costs are taken into account, it was claimed.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Every local authority in East Lancashire except Chorley and the Ribble Valley have figures above the national average of 25.1 per cent.

And in some East Lancashire neighbourhoods, poverty is so concentrated that more than half of local children were classified as poor, the research found.

They include Daneshouse with Stoneyholme in Burnley at 50.04 per cent, Brierfield in Pendle at 50.30 per cent, Audley in Blackburn, at 44.99 per cent, Spring Hill in Hyndburn at 41.91 per cent, and Worsley in Rossendale at 38.17 per cent.

Brierfield councillor Naeem Hussain Ashraf said the figures did not surprise him.

He said: “Brierfield is one of the most deprived areas in the country. There’s a lot of poverty, and even parents who are working are scraping a living.

“It’s getting harder day by day with the savage cuts and it’s not going to get any easier.”

Blackburn MP Jack Straw said: “The previous government worked very hard to reduce the number of children in poverty.

“The introduction of working tax credits transformed living standards for families in low-paid work.

“This will go backwards if the Conservatives win the next election because they are planning to reduce those benefits.”

Spring Hill councillor Pam Barton said she was ‘shocked’ at the figures and would be looking at them in more detail.

The research was carried out by the Campaign to End Child Poverty, whose chair David Holmes said: “These figures reveal just how widely and deeply child poverty reaches into our communities.

“Far too many children whose parents are struggling to make a living are suffering as a result and missing out on the essentials of a decent childhood that all young people should be entitled to.

“We can and must do better for our children.”