More than half of children in Lambeth are living in or on the brink of poverty, according to a new report.

The Campaign to End Child Poverty say 59 per cent of children in the borough - a total of 35,390 - are struggling and living on less than £10 a day.

A campaign spokeswoman said it was an “appalling rate” and children were being failed by the system. She called for more Government spending to cut poverty.

The most poverty-stricken ward in the south of the borough is Tulse Hill where 2,475, or 68 per cent of children, are living in low-income families or have both parents out of work.

According to the report, Lambeth has the seventh highest rate of poverty in the capital and the 22nd worse in the country.

The campaign - made up of more than 100 children’s charities - define children “struggling” in or near a state of poverty as those whose families are receiving either out of work benefits or working tax credit.

Lambeth Council’s cabinet member for children and young people, Paul McGlone, said one of the biggest causes of child poverty was “worklessness”.

He added: “Our Labour administration is committed to breaking this link and we have a plan to do it. We have set down clear targets to get people the right education and training so they can get jobs and lift themselves and their families out of poverty.”

The council’s solution is contained in its Sustainable Community Strategy which intends to fight unemployment and poverty by giving residents, especially single parents, access to better skills and education for them to get better paid jobs.

Streatham MP Keith Hill agreed fighting unemployment among parents was essential to bringing down poverty levels.

He said: “Child poverty blights the life chances of far too many children in our country which is why the Labour Government is absolutely determined to end child poverty and stop it passing from one generation to the next.

“Over the last 10 years we have lifted 600,000 children out of relative poverty, with a further 250,000 benefiting from the measures we have taken this year. And I welcome the Prime Minister's recent commitment to introduce ground-breaking legislation to enshrine in law Labour's pledge to end child poverty. But we know there is more to do.”