Eight of the most deprived parishes in the UK are in Bradford, a new report has revealed, with 46 per cent of pensioners and 39 per cent of youngsters in one living in poverty.

Research by Church of England charity, the Church Urban Fund (CUF), found that St Clement parish ranked 12,631 out of 12,706 parishes for being the most deprived with 54 per cent of locals having no qualifications.

St Clement was followed by two parishes in Manningham and one in Tong where child poverty reached 46 per cent. Meanwhile the ten least deprived communities included Bingley where child poverty is seven per cent and pensioner poverty ten per cent. The average life expectancy in St Clement for men is 71 compared to 76 in All Saints parish in Bingley.

A spokesman for Bradford-based national charity Christians Against Poverty said: “Anyone who knows this city and its surrounding areas will not be surprised to hear that there are pockets of significant poverty.

“The Bible has a lot to say on the subject of looking after ‘the poor’ – and thankfully the church is doing a lot to relieve the effects of poverty which in the 21st century looks like impending repossession and skipping meals to pay doorstep lenders.”

The findings were calculated at Church of England parish level with an online method devised using data on life expectancy and poverty rates among children, pensioners and people of working age. Paul Hackwood, the chairman of trustees at CUF, said that England was one of the most unequal countries in the western world. He added: “We urge people to go online and try out the tool and find out where their local community ranks.”