The population of Newham has rocketed by almost a quarter in the last 10 years, the latest Census has shown.

The borough now has 308,000 residents, up on the 249,000 people registered at the last survey in 2001.

The growth was bettered only by Tower Hamlets and rivalled by Hackney and Manchester.

It means Newham ranks highly in the list of areas with the highest population density, with 8,508 residents per square kilometre.

Newham Council seized on yesterday’s publication of the Census as vindication of its past pleas for extra central government funding.

Mayor Sir Robin Wales asked for additional one off funding as a result.

He said: “We have been telling the ONS and the Department for Communities and Local Government for many years that our population has been dramatically undercounted yet it has fallen on deaf ears.

“Each person is worth at least �600 of grant funding to Newham.

“It is obvious that this undercount has had a significant impact on the funding we have received from the government over many years.”

He said the council would have received about �40 million extra for public services had the latest population estimate been used.

The figures also show there are 101,500 occupied households in Newham, with an average of three people per household.

There are now more men than women in the borough compared to 2001, with 160,300 and 147,600 respectively.

The number of young people aged 19 or under has also risen from 79,100 to 86,200.