More than 35,000 children in Bradford are growing up in poverty, according to research published today.

And experts say the picture will get even gloomier as the Government’s spending cuts bite.

The Campaign to End Child Poverty, which has produced a map of the country’s poverty hotspots, has found a quarter of all Bradford children are in families surviving on less than 60 per cent of median household income – the legal measure of poverty – making it the second worst area across Yorkshire and the Humber. Bradford West has 11,768 young people in poverty (32 per cent) and Bradford East 7,379 (32 per cent) while there are 7,379 in Bradford South (27 per cent).

In contrast there are 4,282 youngsters in poverty in Keighley (19 per cent) and 2,744 in Shipley (13 per cent).

Tong and Little Horton are the worst areas with 39 per cent of children living in poverty, whereas Wharfedale has just three per cent.

Bradford East MP David Ward said: “The sad fact is many children living in poverty are from working families who are not receiving adequate pay.

“We have to start paying fair wages. The minimum wage is now insufficient. No one is speaking up for ordinary working class families in Parliament. Extra tax credits are not the answer as that just fiddles the figures. The only way to deal with this is to create more employment and help people out of poverty.”

Alison Garnham, executive director of the campaign, said the map painted a stark picture of a socially-segregated Britain. She said: “The Prime Minister should make a New Year’s resolution to keep his pledge to ‘make British poverty history’ so children all over Britain can enjoy a childhood free from poverty.”