A SHOCK report into child labour in Blackburn and Darwen has revealed that some youngsters have been paid as little as 35p an hour.

The survey also found that almost 70 per cent of children with jobs get paid less then £2 for 60 minutes' work.

And according to the report, bosses in the borough regularly breach employment laws.

Even though school age workers are required to obtain a certificate of employment from their school or GP, only 4 per cent of employers asked for them.

Many children also work outside the legal hours which are between 7am and 7pm, although few actually exceeded the 25-hour maximum. Many also started jobs before 13, the legal age for paid employment. The study into the links between child labour and poverty was commissioned by the council and carried out by a Liverpool University researcher.

The report was backed by the GMB union and published by Blackburn's economic development and employment and unit.

A quarter of the children interviewed said they had a job outside the home and almost 40 per cent said they have had a job at one time.

Most children have delivery jobs, such as milk or paper rounds.

But the town has more than the average number of children working in the adult world.

This includes dangerous and demanding jobs such as packing, cleaning, catering and engineering.

Boys tend to start work at an earlier age than girls but as they get older more girls have jobs.

Children from Asian backgrounds are also less likely to be working outside the home.

Simon Danczuk, Blackburn's economic development vice-chairman, said: "This report can be used to guide the council's anti-poverty policy in a positive way."

See Opinion

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.