One in 52 children in Blackpool are in care

Huge divide between North South

- LIZZY BUCHAN

ONE in every 52 children in Blackpool are in care as poverty and Tory benefits cuts push families to the brink, a report warns today.

Analysis reveals disproportionately high rates of youngsters in care in the North of England compared to the South. Last year there were more than 83,000 in care in England as a whole.

That figure could rise due to health inequalities and poverty, said the University of Liverpool report for the Child of the North All-Party Parliamentary Group.

Some 93 per 10,000 children in the North were in the care system, compared to 62 in the rest of England.