The number of malnutrition cases in Salford has DOUBLED - with many of the victims children.

Victorian illnesses such as rickets and beriberi - thought to be long eradicated - are on the rise due to food poverty according to a shocking new report/

The number of people being admitted to hospital with the condition doubled over a four year period.

Although health conditions are often a primary cause, Salford council leaders believes that poverty is also to blame.

Paul Dennett, the city’s elected Mayor, told the MEN he would take action, saying: “Poverty which we once thought was relegated to the distant past is cropping up again in Salford - malnutrition, hunger, fuel poverty and homelessness.

“Only yesterday I was contacted by Salford Central Foodbank, reporting their stocks of food were the lowest they had ever been.”

He said a review of poverty-related services would now be carried out to create an ‘anti-poverty strategy’ in Salford.

The number of people being admitted to hospital with malnutrition increased from 43 in 2010 to 85 in 2014.

Although an exact breakdown of those admitted was not available, many of them are believed to be children.

This was significantly higher when compared to Greater Manchester overall.

In addition, there were other signs that household poverty was increasing in the city. The number of homeless people rose from 40 in 2010/11 to 356 in 2014/15.

In 2013 the number of children deemed to be living in poverty was 12,175, as measured by households in receipt of work benefits and tax credits, which equated to 26 per cent of children in the city. The figure for the North West was 21 per cent and for England 18 per cent.

Anecdotal evidence has suggested that some children in the city are being fed when they arrive at school as theyhave gone without breakfast.

Mr Dennett added: “We are engaged in the development of a city-wide anti-poverty strategy, linking services from the council and other orgnisations. This means focusing on food poverty, fuel poverty, benefit support, and financial support.

“Part of the answer is attracting the right kind of employers to our city, who bring in local people, train them properly and pay them fairly.

“Since the 1980s it’s been seen as unfashionable to strategically plan for growth. We have rested on the faith that the market will provide more effectively htan any plan. This means former industrial cities like Salford lose out.

“Many of the skilled jobs that used to sustain cities like ours don’t exist anymore. Many of the new jobs are insecure, low paid, and low skilled. They aren’t enough to provide the bare essentials.

“That’s why we’ve seen a drastic rise in in-work poverty, foodbank usage and homelessness. Forgotten forms of poverty are becoming standard again.”

In 2014 the Faculty of Public Health said conditions like rickets were becoming more apparent because people could not afford quality food in their diet.