The Government was today accused of neglecting Bradford by failing to close the North-South divide.

A damning report by the Institute of Public Policy Research accused the Labour Government of being in denial' over the growing equality gaps in the county, despite a decade in power.

Ministers were urged to get real' and do more to close the gap in prosperity between Bradford and the more affluent South-East.

According to the left-wing think tank, the average annual income per head is currently £11,348 in Bradford - the lowest earners across West Yorkshire.

Leeds pocket more than £1,000 extra each year with annual salaries of £12,395 and Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield all on the £12,192 mark. In contrast, annual average annual income per head is £22,441 in West London, £17,785 in Surrey and £17,415 in Buckinghamshire.

Sue Stirling, director of IPPR North, said: "The Government needs to get real on the north-south divide. At the moment, it is in denial. The Government has not explicitly targeted the gap between rich and poor, nor the gap between north and south."

And as a further blow to Gordon Brown, who five years ago pledged to reduce the inequality gap, the output per head in Yorkshire and Humber fell between 1997 and 2005.

Gross Value Added (GVA) per person - the Government's measure of productivity - in the region was rated as 90 in 1997 falling to 87 in 2005.

London saw an increase in GVA from 129 to 136 over the same period.

The new Prime Minister Gordon Brown, while he was Chancellor, said he would reduce the average growth rates between the North, Midlands and South West and then London and the South East and the East England. The target has long been seen as the key test of whether Labour can bring living standards in its Northern heartland within touch of those in the booming South.

But before leaving Downing Street Tony Blair dismissed criticisms the gap was widening and said the pressing issue was the divide between rich and poor within regions, not the North-South divide.

The admission sparked speculation that the Government will ditch its North-South target in the autumn when it announces its three-year spending plan.

Miss Stirling added: "The standard Government line on the North-South divide is that inequalities within regions are as dramatic as those between regions.

"This is true but just because you deal with inequalities within regions it does not mean you should ignore inequalities between regions."

The report urges ministers to draw up a new target to reduce the differences in output-per-head between regions.

Councillor Andrew Mallinson, Bradford Council's executive member for regeneration, said: "It is clearly evident that there is a gap in the whole economy structure. Especially in the investment we see in the north."