Health services are overstretched and schools are full because six streets in Bradford have a staggering 2,300 people living in them, ward councillors have warned.

The Office for National Statistics has released mid-2010 population estimates showing 0.08 square kilometres in Bradford Moor – including Arlington Street, Wellands Terrace, Gladstone Street, Sandford Road, Fitzroy Road and Curzon Road – has the sixth highest population density outside of London.

There are 27,500 people per square kilometre, according to the data.

Many of the back-to-back terrace houses are a century old with many families of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin living with an average of four children in cramped conditions.

Councillor Mohammed Shafiq (Lab, Bradford Moor) said he knew of one family of ten living in a three-bedroom house in the area.

“There are overcrowded houses, young children being exposed to damp, and plaster falling off in some houses in a bad condition,” he said.

“The Environment Agency is looking into this as we speak. It is a deprived area and housing conditions are extremely poor. So many of my constituents are crying out for houses and there is nothing available for them to move into.”

He said that he was surprised to find out the sheer number of people inhabiting the streets and blamed high unemployment, low incomes and poor education.

He warned that society was failing children as young as three.

“There are very little resources, if any, coming into this area and children growing up in these areas sometimes don’t have access to basic things such as Sure Start Children’s Centres,” he said.

“We can’t meet demand for young families, who I know are waiting to get their children into these centres.

“Education needs to improve and I have been saying it for far too long.”

Councillor Riaz Ahmed, a Liberal Democrat representative in the ward, said that he was not surprised by the number of inhabitants and said that people were queuing up to try to get out of the area. He took the T&A around the streets to demonstrate how cramped conditions are.

“Councils tend to ignore this problem to accommodate people,” said Coun Ahmed. “We build in this area to protect the green belt but now we have people here waiting for school places in primary and secondary schools, with children having to travel further than they need to. It does not make any sense, but it is because this area is so heavily populated.

“Schools are bursting at the seams and the health facilities cannot cope.”