Almost 24,000 children in Tower Hamlets are living below the poverty line, a new report has confirmed.

The Greater London Authority has published research which shows that almost 50 per cent of the 49,000 children in the borough live in poverty – more than in any other local authority in the country.

In the most deprived pockets of the borough, as many as three in every five children live in poverty.

“This reveals the huge variation in child poverty levels in London, with children in Tower Hamlets almost five times as likely to be in poverty as those in Richmond upon Thames”, the report says.

“Four London boroughs have at least one area where more than three in five children are in poverty. The areas with the highest proportions are concentrated in Tower Hamlets, with half of all areas in this very highest category situated within the borough.”

Tower Hamlets has long been recognised as one of the worst affected areas in the country. The Campaign to End Child Poverty highlighted the borough as having high child poverty levels in a report published last year.

MP for Bethnal Green and Bow Rushanara Ali, said: “I am concerned that the Government is making things worse by cutting support for low-income families through its cuts to tax credits and other supports.

“This will affect thousands of hard working families in my constituency.”