Nearly a third of children in Bradford district are living in poverty, a new survey has revealed.

A report by the Campaign to End Child Poverty showed a staggering 29 per cent of youngsters are blighted by poverty.

In some wards that figure rises to as many as 44 per cent, according to the latest statistics, with vast differences between urban and rural areas of the district.

There are fears the crisis could worsen as unemployment increases and Government budget cuts bite.

End Child Poverty is now calling on the Government to put forward a “far more credible strategy” to tackle the problem.

In England as a whole, 21.3 per cent – 2.4 million – children are living in poverty, according to the study.

That figure rises to 36 per cent in the Bradford West constituency and 35 per cent in Bradford North.

Keighley and Shipley have child poverty levels of 21 per cent and 14 per cent respectively but the problem is far worse in Bradford’s inner city areas.

In the two worst wards, Bradford Moor and Manningham, 44 per cent of all children are living in poverty.

In Bowling and Barkerend and Little Horton the figure is 43 per cent.

That compares with levels of only eight per cent in Baildon and the Worth Valley and ten per cent in Bingley.

Richard Dunbar, a spokesman for Save the Children in Bradford, said the figures were a reminder poverty is “still very much” in existence in Bradford. He said: “The Government has a choice – either to end child poverty or to face the prospect of a lost generation."

  • Read the full story in Friday's T&A