A study by social policy group the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has revealed that the gap between rich and poor in the UK is wider than it has been in almost half a century.

The research, which used census figures and poverty studies, also shows that Bradford and Leeds are seeing increasing levels of urban poverty that have increased decade upon decade.

The survey, published yesterday, found that the north/south economic divide is becoming more defined with the majority of "exclusively affluent" homes concentrated in suburban pockets in the south east of the country.

The gap between the wealthy and poor narrowed in the 1970s but during the '80s and '90s inequality increased dramatically as the country polarised, according to the findings.

Ben Wheeler, a research fellow at the University of Sheffield, who co-authored the report said: "Our report doesn't specifically look at the mechanisms for why this has occurred but I think if you look at the fact that the wealth seems to be concentrated in the south east, coupled with de-industrialisation and job losses in areas such as the north there is a definite connection.

"There is still a north/south divide. The wealth is flowing to the south but you also see some interesting pockets of affluence across the country. What we are seeing is that people are segregated in terms of wealth within their own counties and communities."

A case in point is the disparity between Ilkley, which is one of the most prosperous areas in the country with more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in Yorkshire, and inner city Bradford which houses some of the poorest wards in the UK.

A Unicef survey recently showed that two Bradford wards suffer higher than the national average child poverty.

Mike Cartwright, of Bradford Chamber of Commerce said: "It's a difficult problem to assess - or at least to correct.

"Pockets of prosperity in Bradford, as with elsewhere, are often masked by areas of concentrated poverty; but then, there's the whole argument about relative and absolute poverty, too. People appear poor in comparison to others but often have much more materially than their predecessors.

"Bradford also appears to have considerably more long-term unemployed than other parts of West Yorkshire.

"I would think that the benefits safety net for the poor has not managed to keep pace with the gains made by the well-off, such as housing equity and shares."