ALMOST a quarter of South Lakeland children are currently living below the poverty line.

The shock new figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that 23 per cent of children in the district are living in poverty after housing costs are taken into account.

Kendal Kirkland and Kendal Underley have the joint highest proportion in the area, with 34.6 per cent of young people living below the breadline.

And the news has prompted MP Tim Farron to write to Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd calling for the introduction of ‘poverty impact assessment clauses’ on all new laws.

“It’s heart-breaking that in my own village of Milnthorpe 22 per cent of kids are living below the poverty line, and in the centre of Kendal just a stone’s throw from my office, the number is over 1 in 3,” said the Westmorland and Lonsdale MP.

“Clearly there are policy changes that are making life even more difficult for the least well-off, and if you’re already in that situation you simply cannot afford even the slightest dip in your income.

“We really need to be putting the least-well off at the forefront we need to be putting these people at the forefront of our minds when we pass laws.”