One in three children in Islington live in poverty research conducted by The End Child Poverty campaign shows.

Around 34 per cent of children in Islington are living below the breadline – which is the second worst result in London and the sixth worst nationally.

It also much higher than the national average where one in five children live in poverty.

The borough has shown an improvement of nine per cent since the study was carried out last year by the campaign group.

Enver Solomon, chair of the campaign which is based at White Lion Street, Islington said: “The child poverty map reveals the depth and breadth of child poverty across the country showing the gross levels of inequality that children face in every region. Far too many children whose parents are struggling to making a living are having to go hungry and miss out on the essentials of a decent childhood that all young people should be entitled to.

“Local authorities are having to deal with reduced budgets but they have critical decisions to make. We’re calling on authorities to prioritise low income families in the decisions they make about local welfare spending, including spending on the new council tax benefit, and on protecting families hit by the bedroom tax.”

The campaign has written to leaders at Islington council asking them what they will do to tackle child poverty.

Richard Watts, Islington council executive member for children and families, said: “What it shows is that there are shockingly high levels of poverty in Islington which are going to get worse due to government welfare cuts hitting the poorest families including families who are working but on low income.

“These figures are probably an underestimate of child poverty in Islington because they don’t include housing costs.”