A dozen Reading neighbourhoods are among the 20 per cent most income-deprived in England, figures show.

Areas of Southcote, Norcot and Whitley are put most at risk by the rising cost of living, as Chancellor Rishi Sunak comes under pressure to provide support in his upcoming Spring statement.

Regular pay fell by 1.6 per cent in the three months to January, according to the Office for National Statistics, and millions of energy bills are set to rise by £693 from April 1.

The ONS has mapped out which areas of Reading could be hit hardest using its latest data (2019).

Reading Chronicle: Reading by income deprivation // ONSReading by income deprivation // ONS

One of the most income-deprived areas in Reading is in Southcote, in the area circled by Bath Road, Southcote Lane and Circuit Laine.

Ashburton Road and the surrounding areas are also among the dozen most deprived areas in Reading, with most of Whitley and Whitely wood falling in the lower half of income distribution in the town.

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Churchend was highlighted by the ONS as suffering hardest from income deprivation, as was the North East of Norcot and east of Caversham Lakes.

Gordon Brown has led calls for the Chancellor to keep families out of “extreme poverty” as a result of the cost of living crisis.

Along with Labour leaders of councils, metro mayors and the First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford, Mr Brown has written to Rishi Sunak.

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The group called for the national insurance rise to be scrapped, as well as the restoration of the £20 uplift to Universal Credit and the uprating of benefits in line with the current rate of inflation.

Extra help, the letter said, should also be offered to those struggling most to help heat their homes, including increased funding for insulation as part of a longer term programme of retrofitting.

“April 2022 brings us the worst cost of living crisis for half a century,” the letter said.