BURNLEY has slipped 10 places down the official poverty table of England to become the eleventh most deprived borough in the country.

And Blackburn with Darwen is the 17th most deprived borough, the government’s three-yearly national deprivation study has concluded.

Pendle was ranked 33rd, Hyndburn 34th, Rossendale 98th, while Ribble Valley was towards the bottom end of the poverty scale at number 290.

The survey, carried out by the Government, is based on factors including unemployment, education opportunities, crime, and health statistics.

The statistics are in the Index of Multiple Deprivation, which is traditionally used to identify the needy areas for funding grants.

That means more public sector cash could now flow into our towns as a result.

The study also divided England into 32,482 neighbourhoods, and an area of Burnley was listed in the top one per cent of most deprived neighbourhoods.

The deprivation index study, which was last carried out in 2007, found the neighbourhood around Accrington Road, bordered by Clough Lane, Harold Street and Cog Lane, was seventh most deprived, a jump of 41 places.

Another section of Burnley, in the Bank Hall area, bounded by Belvedere Road, Church Street and Ormerod Road, was 21st, and two more pockets of Burnley featured in the top 100.

The other East Lancashire entry in the top 100 was part of Blackburn with Darwen.

Council leaders have called for more investment to stop the increasing poverty in the area.

And experts say the scrapping of the housing regeneration programme threatens to leave some estates ‘in limbo’ with cash running out before rebuilding projects could be completed.

But Burnley council leader Charlie Briggs warned: “With so much getting cut it’s hard to see where the money’s coming from.

“We know there are pockets that need attention, but there is work going on. There are some fantastic areas in Burnley.”

Council chief executive Steve Rumbelow said: “Generally the picture is that there are marginal movements in smaller areas that have worsened.

“Improvements are hard won and that's the battle we are in. It’s something that will take many years to recover.

"The movements are marginal and, without being blase, I do not think these figures are anything to be alarmed about. We did not expect things to change overnight.”

At the other end of the deprivation scale, Whalley/Read was the top-ranked East Lancashire place, coming 32,263 out of 32,468.

Overall, Blackpool was the most deprived in Lancashire while England’s most deprived area was in north-east Essex.