The neighbourhoods across Bradford where youth unemployment has reached an “emergency” have been revealed.

Undercliffe, Bowling and Little Horton are included on a list of the country’s 600 hotspots where the proportion of young people claiming out-of-work benefits is double the national average, a situation described as a “tragedy” by Bradford Council leader Ian Greenwood.

Councillor Greenwood, who represents the Little Horton ward, said: “Clearly this is a tragedy for all those involved.

“There are many young people who are reasonably well educated who cannot get a job.

“I put it down to a Government which has abandoned our young people. It is never particularly easy to get a job as a young person and people are leaving full-time education sooner than they should.”

Nationally one in eight young people are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance but in pockets of Bradford it is more than one in four.

A commission chaired by Labour MP David Miliband identified the 600 “hotspots” across the UK, covering 152 local authority areas, which show 12.97 per cent of all young people in Undercliffe are claiming the payment, 13.46 per cent in Bowling and 14.17 per cent in Little Horton.

Councillor Imran Ahmed Khan (Lab, Bowling and Barkerend) said: “We’ve got to look at the figures in context. Bowling is a very deprived area and does have a high percentage of immigrants living in the area.

“But it’s very hard to get a job at the minute, and that is anywhere really.

“This isn’t just Bowling or even England – this is a global situation that needs sorting out. In the foreseeable future, its still going to be very hard to get jobs.

“We’ve got to work with the local people, work on them getting re-skilled. Bradford has had a proud history, it was once one of the richest cities in the country and we need to get that back on track.”

The Commission on Youth Unemployment urged the Government to do more to help young people find work, including a part-time job guarantee for those on the Work Programme for a year.

Mr Miliband said: “Britain faces a youth unemployment emergency. This is a crisis we cannot afford. Government has set the right goal – abolishing long-term youth unemployment – but we will need big change if we are to achieve it.

“Young people, Government, communities and employers will all need to up their game if young people are to succeed in a radically changing jobs market. Our report sets out a practical routemap for how they can do precisely that.

“The crisis of youth unemployment can and must be tackled now. With action we can make a real difference across Britain.”

Mr Miliband said despite the lack of jobs available due to the recession, there was a deeper problem in the UK.

“Even in the good times, in 2004 when the economy seemed to be booming, there were 900,000 youngsters who were not in education, employment or training – half of them for over a year. So what I always say is the current Government did not invent this problem but it has become much worse in the last 18 months.”

The Commission wants the Government to double the number of subsidised job places available through its “youth contract” scheme, guarantee part-time jobs for those out of work for a year and create youth unemployment zones to focus resources.

According to the report, the current level of youth joblessness will cost £4.8 billion this year.

Councillor David Gray (Lib Dem, Bolton and Undercliffe) said the figures did not surprise him.

“Some people need to get out there to work,” he said.

“If there were the jobs I am not sure some people would want them anyway. We need more jobs but we need to push people into employment to try and get them out of the system.”

Fellow Lib Dem councillor Howard Middleton (Bolton and Undercliffe) said the news was a shock.

“It is a waste of any young life but is something that has gone on now for many years,” he added.

“I think we need more apprenticeships and we need to tackle the ones that do not achieve at school. How are they going to access the world of work?”