CHILD poverty figures reveal a "staggering" gap between different parts of Bolton.

More than half of the children in some areas are living in poverty, mostly concentrated in the centre of the borough.

Great Lever has the highest rate of child poverty at 55 per cent, closely followed by Rumworth, Halliwell and Harper Green. But in Bromley Cross the rate is 18.5 per cent.

Labour leader Linda Thomas told The Bolton News that the figures show that there is "endemic poverty" in inner areas of the town.

She said: “Although criticised heavily in the public arena by our political opponents for targeting funds at poverty in the inner areas and pockets around the borough, this now demonstrates the vital need to continue this policy and a vindication of our approach.

“For those who say the small amounts we allocate in these times of savage austerity cuts are not working just imagine how much worse the poverty if we listened and did not make some attempt to alleviate this deprivation.”

Great Lever councillor Mohammed Iqbal said it is "no wonder" the difference between life expectancy between the inner and outer area is also large.

His ward colleague, Cllr Mohammed Ayub, said he was "shocked" by the figures but Cllr Madeline Murray said she was not surprised.

She said: "We have seen this coming gradually over the last few years. We can blame austerity but it's more than just that."

The Labour councillor blamed cuts to benefits, poorly paid jobs and zero-hour contracts for affecting low-income households who work.

She also said that Great Lever is densely populated with poor housing conditions. She added: "It is so upsetting to realise these children will not get their childhoods back.”

Last year, Labour were criticised for giving the lion's share of a £1.1m fund to the most deprived wards.

The money was earmarked for park benches, street signs and play areas. But the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats argued that this type of funding should not be allocated on this basis.

Cllr Iqbal said: "We hope the new Tory leader stops condemning and criticising Labour for trying to redress the balance and acts more responsibly than he has demonstrated to date regarding targeting funds to alleviate poverty in inner deprived wards."

New council leader David Greenhalgh, who represents Bromley Cross, said child poverty is a "huge area" of concern for Conservatives.

A specific cabinet portfolio dedicated to dealing with deprivation, anti poverty and inequalities has been created under the Tories.

He said: "It is a complex issue which includes education and training, public health, housing, and family breakdown, and clearly if everyone had the answers, the gap would not be as huge.

“Labour have poured vast amounts of money into reducing the gap, yet we see from these new child poverty figures, successful outcomes are not being attained. We can see that results vary considerably from similar authorities, so this is not all about funding, this is about how it is being spent.

“Outcomes should be measured at every stage. We should be looking at what other similar authorities are doing better, and where they are successful at taking children out of child poverty. A new combined, joined-up, long-term approach is needed in Bolton between council, partners, and charities to deal with this issue.

“Every child deserves a good start in life, and the chance to thrive. A new Conservative administration will seek to address the root causes as well as offering help to those children in need.”

The figures, provided by Child Poverty Action Group, are calculated after housing costs.

The overall rate in Bolton is 36.8 per cent after housing costs with 27,291 children living in poverty. This is a fall of 0.8 percentage points since 2016/17.

Here is the full ward-by-ward breakdown:

Astley Bridge

29.6 per cent

Bradshaw

23.1 per cent

Breightmet

38.8 per cent

Bromley Cross

18.5 per cent

Crompton

44.2 per cent

Great Lever

55.0 per cent

Halliwell

50.3 per cent

Harper Green

50.3 per cent

Heaton and Lostock

31.4 per cent

Horwich and Blackrod

22.7 per cent

Horwich North East

27.7 per cent

Hulton

38.1 per cent

Farnworth

46.5 per cent

Kearsley

37.2 per cent

Little Lever and Darcy Lever

33.0 per cent

Rumworth

51.9 per cent

Smithills

35.3 per cent

Tonge with the Haulgh

41.2 per cent

Westhoughton North and Chew Moor

23.5 per cent

Westhoughton South

26.8 per cent