What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Britain’s towns have borne the brunt of Tory austerity with the North and Midlands suffering most.

While many places in the South have prospered, some of the nation’s other towns, cities and areas have been left behind in the last decade in terms of unemployment, life expectancy, pollution and crime, analysis shows.

From Monday onwards, the Mirror and Mirror Online are running Town 2020 – an in-depth look at how towns have fared and how they can turn around fortunes.

Our exclusive findings reveal that Middlesbrough is England’s most deprived town.

Once at the heart of Britain’s industry, it is struggling to keep pace.

It has the fourth worst ranking for unemployment, fifth for unhealthiness and third for crime and anti-social behaviour.

We want to hear stories from your town. What do you think about it? Are you facing any issues? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk or call 0207 293 3018





Mum-of-three Megan Tunstall used to live in the town centre but now lives eight miles away in Billingham.

And she refuses to visit the town with her children late in the day.

She said: “There are a lot of people walking around on drugs.”

Middlesbrough also has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the country, with 7.3% of people without a job.

It also ranks as seventh highest for the number of unqualified residents and 12th for lowest earnings.

(Image: North News & Pictures northn)

The town’s Labour MP Andy McDonald says the job losses from local industry have resulted in a crisis of confidence for Middlesbrough.

He said: “Steel is in Teesside’s blood and you see it just take blow after blow.”

Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary says the town is suffering from a wider neglect of the North’s transport links.

With bus fares rising 30% since 2010, he has called for investment in rail.

The Mirror combined statistics from the NHS, Office For National Statistics and other government bodies to find out which places in the country are falling behind.

The list of unhealthy areas was created by combining statistics on health, life expectancy, air pollution, avoidable deaths, obesity, smoking, heroin deaths, and alcohol-related hospital admissions.

Figures show that if you live in towns in the North West and North East you are likely to die earlier than people in the rest of the country, have fewer qualifications and suffer more from crime.

(Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

The least deprived communities are mainly in the South East including Wokingham.

TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “Lots of Britain’s towns have been hit hard by austerity.

“It has sucked the life out of their local economy and knocked back wages.

“And it comes on top of a long-term lack of investment.”

Every day this week we will publish stories as part of our Town 2020 series.

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

Reporters have visited towns and spoken to ordinary, hard-working people struggling with mental health, child poverty and employment.

We also want to focus on the positive, show how much people value their town and their aspirations to make them better.

Meanwhile, another study by the TUC, shows that residents of Wigan have seen their weekly wages fall by 11% since 2008, down from £410 to £364 – way below the national average of £445.

Wigan has also faced harsher council cuts than many other areas of the UK.

It is one of seven areas in England that had experienced cuts in spending of more than 40% between 2010 and 2017.