More than 2,100 children were living in poverty in South Lakeland just before the coronavirus pandemic hit, figures have revealed.

Of the children in poverty in the district, 562 (26 per cent) were below school age.

The figures for the year 19/20 have come from Department for Work and Pensions data.

The majority of children in poverty (79 per cent) in South Lakeland were in working households, while 37 per cent were in lone-parent families.

They were among 317,400 under-16s in poverty across the North West as a whole last year.

Imran Hussain, director of policy and campaigns at charity Action for Children, said: "The Government is in denial over child poverty which continues to rise and threatens to torpedo its flagship plans for levelling-up.

"Experts have warned that child poverty will rise even further after the pandemic, with working families facing a double threat this coming winter to their living standards, as unemployment peaks and Universal Credit is cut.

"Three-quarters of children in poverty live in working families.

"It’s vital the Government brings forward a credible plan to reduce poverty.

"It can start by making permanent the vital uplift in Universal Credit."

Across the UK, a record 3.2 million children were living in relative poverty in 2019-20 – with the figure rising to 4.3 million after housing costs were taken into account.

The Child Poverty Action Group, which is also calling for a boost to benefit payments, said the 'dismal' figures showed that leaders needed to take urgent action.

Chief executive Alison Garnham said: "Increasing child benefit by £10 per week would lift 450,000 children from poverty.

"One year from now we should not have to look at data showing even more children have fallen into poverty because of government inaction.

"We badly need a cross-government strategy to end child poverty and increasing child benefit should be the first action point."

Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey said average household incomes saw their strongest annual growth for nearly 20 years in 2019-20, meaning families went into the pandemic on a 'firm financial footing'.

"We have since increased our support with an unprecedented package of measures targeting those with the lowest incomes to help families through a difficult year," she said.

"Our relentless focus as we 'build back better' is on getting Britain back on its feet through our multi-billion-pound Plan For Jobs."