ALMOST one in every five Bournemouth children are living in poverty, shock statistics have revealed.

And the figure spirals to one in four when housing costs are deducted from a family's income.

Worst affected are youngsters living in council ward Boscombe West, where 35.58 per cent of children are in poverty after housing costs are taken into account.

In Kinson South, 33.38 per cent of children are in poverty, followed by Kinson North with 32.51 per cent, Alderney with 31.29 per cent, Eastcliff and Springbourne with 31.21 per cent and Boscombe East with 30.24 per cent.

In contrast, some of the lowest figures of child poverty take into account areas housing families living just minutes away.

Lowest in the league table for the year is East Southbourne and Tuckton, where 13 per cent of youngsters live in poverty, while 16.64 per cent of children in Throop and Muscliffe are in poverty.

The statistics take into account information received in 2014 and were compiled by organisation Campaign to End Child Poverty.

Claire Matthews, who founded soup kitchen and food bank Hope for Food, said: "During Easter, we helped 157 families.

"That worked out to just under 500 kids. These are children who are in poverty, whose parents are struggling to feed them. It's absolutely horrible."

Claire said the problem spikes during school holidays, but broadly numbers remain consistent.

"It's all the time," she said.

"It's not all about a dark night in the middle of the winter - it's about school holidays in the summer when the kids aren't getting a free meal and their parents can't afford food."

She said many parents work, but still struggle to feed their children.

"You get single mums working more than one job but they still can't keep it going," she said.

"We've had parents with their kids coming to the soup kitchen, but if they tell us they need help we'll bring the food to them. Parents want to shield their children from as much as possible and we'll always try to help with that."

And the problem is not going away, Claire added.

"It's getting worse, if anything," she said.

"Every single person is only ever three pay cheques away from losing their home. That's the situation. Everyone is just three months away from being in real trouble."

Councillors representing the most deprived areas have spoken out about the issues constituents face.

Cllr Chris Wakefield, representing Boscombe West, said: "For me, a priority is to make sure that people are accessing the services that are available to them.

"There are ways that the council and other organisations can get involved and help alleviate some of the issues families can face."

He said the borough council is currently concentrating on fuel poverty as the winter closes in.

"It's not right to see so many people in poverty in this day and age," he said.

His thoughts were echoed by Cllr Laurence Fear, representing Kinson South.

"It is the 21st Century, we are one of the richest countries in the world and we still have child poverty," he said.

"However, I'm excited that we are due to see some investment in the area that I hope will make a real difference."

BY PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY (AFTER HOUSING COSTS)

  • Bournemouth East - 24 per cent of children are in poverty
  • Bournemouth West - 27 per cent
  • Christchurch - 20 per cent
  • Mid Dorset and North Poole - 17 per cent
  • Poole - 22 per cent
  • North Dorset - 17 per cent
  • South Dorset - 24 per cent

The figures used in this report are based on a definition of child poverty in place until the summer of this year.

Before July 2015, a child was defined as being in poverty when living in a household with an income below 60 per cent of the UK's average.

However, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith announced a new way of measuring child poverty in July.

He said the new system will focus on the "root causes" of poverty and make a "meaningful change to children's life chances".

It includes factors such as educational achievement and living in workless households as well as income.

It follows a report claiming child poverty levels were "unacceptably high" across the UK.

The four UK children's commissioners, for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, urged the government to halt its programme of benefit cuts.

Mr Duncan Smith said he planned to scrap measures introduced by Labour in 2010 - which define a child as being poor when it lives in a household with an income below 60 per cent of the UK's average.

He said this measure was considered to be "deeply flawed and a poor test of whether children's lives are genuinely improving".