Jaywick tops deprivation league for third time

The Essex town, near Clacton-on-Sea, received international coverage last year after it was used in a US election campaign advert.

It has again topped a list that measures deprivation in 32,844 small areas or neighbourhoods across England.

Some eight neighbourhoods across the seaside resort of Blackpool account for the rest of the top 10 most deprived nationally, alongside an area of the Anfield district of Liverpool.

All of the local authorities with the highest proportion of deprived neighbourhoods are in the north – Middlesbrough, Knowsley, Hull, Liverpool and Manchester – and remain unchanged from 2015.

Flood-prone coastal town of Jaywick, also known as Jaywick Sands, has a population of around 5,000.

The area specified by the report’s authors – to the west of the village – was ranked as the most deprived neighbourhood in deprivation indices in both 2010 and 2015.

A bleak picture of the area, showing unpaved roads and dilapidated homes, was used by US politician to warn voters about the consequences of not voting for Donald Trump ahead of the midterm elections in America.

MP for Clacton Giles Watling said he was “very disappointed” by the Government report and pledged to engage with and better support the population of Jaywick.

“As always, I could not be any more enthusiastic and optimistic about Jaywick and its future,” he said.

“It is an area of truly outstanding natural beauty, and the people there have a lot to offer – not least because of their strong sense of community. I truly want to see the area thrive.”

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government indices are based on the most up-to-date information available from seven specific areas.

Data from income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers to housing and living environment are all used to measure levels of deprivation.

A number of London boroughs have seen decreases in the proportion of their neighbourhoods that are highly deprived, according to the authors, particularly in Tower Hamlets and Westminster.

The least deprived area of England is a neighbourhood nestled in the Chiltern Hills near Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

A Government spokesman said: “The Government is committed to levelling across the country and with unemployment levels continuing to fall and wages rising at their fastest in over a decade, we’re committed to supporting families with their cost of living.

“We’re providing more support to the most deprived authorities, which now have a spending power 16% higher per home than the least deprived.”

Simone Walker, 26, said she moved to Jaywick from Milton Keynes to buy her first home with her husband and their three-year-old son.

The off-licence shop worker said it is “unfair” that the town, where her wider family live, is often portrayed in a negative light.

“I see happy, loving families,” she said. “Everyone cares about each other.

“If something bad happens people would jump in regardless of who they are, they would help.

“There are a lot of happy faces around here. I’m proud to call it home.”

A man who gave his name only as Mac said he used to be a cocaine addict and moved to the town from Hertfordshire for a fresh start.

The 56-year-old mechanic said: “Everyone who puts Jaywick down doesn’t live here.

“People who haven’t got money look after people who haven’t got money.

“Jaywick has its own help here – we help each other.

“We don’t have nothing but what we don’t have we don’t miss.”