Newham has more children living in poverty than anywhere else in London, new figures have shown.

The statistics, revealead by the End Child Poverty coalition, found that 36,780 children were living below the poverty last year.

This equates to 43.2 per cent of youngsters - the second highest proportion in the capital, behind only neighbouring Tower Hamlets, where 53.4pc of children - more than 32,000 - live in poverty.

End Child Poverty classes a child as living in poverty if their family is living on less than 60pc of median household income.

A Newham Council spokeswoman said that the council was doing all it could “to blunt the worst of this Conservative government’s approach”.

She said: “We are tackling poor housing conditions through our private rented sector licensing scheme, investing in our children through our free school meals scheme which gives children a nutritious meal and saves parents and carers an estimated ?437 a year per child.

“We are also supporting more than 35,000 residents into work through our employment initiative Workplace and our advisors also offer help with planning child care and managing the costs parents face when moving into work.”

She added: “Research has shown that poverty can affect a child’s health and well-being, as well as their ability to learn and this can damage their prospects in adulthood.

“We will continue to do all that we can to support our families and work with them to overcome the barriers of living on a low income so that every child in Newham gets the best start in life and we close the gap between our residents and those in the rest of London.”

Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, part of the coalition, said: “Hard-up families are caught between rising prices and real-terms cuts in essential support like child benefit.

“Without action to protect the living standards of ordinary families, we risk damaging children’s life chances.”