'Glaring inequality' as those in Chelsea have £63k a year to spend - this is how Blackpool compares

The average worker in the resort had £15,986 left after tax in 2018, the most recent Office for National Statistics data shows.

Dr Wanda Wyporska, executive director at the Equality Trust, said: “The figures are a damning indictment of the glaring inequalities between London and the rest of the country and between north and south, rich and poor.”

Disposable income in Blackpool had risen by four per cent in the previous 12 months, the figures showed.

The lowest disposable income in the UK – £13,138 – was in Nottingham.

Dr Wyporska said the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen the most deprived areas hit hardest, made the findings even more significant.

The UK’s total gross disposable household income (GDHI) increased by 5 per cent in 2018, to £1.4bn. Every region saw an increase in GDHI per head but London’s remained the highest, at £29,362 on average.

By contrast, the North West’s was just £18,362 – the sixth highest.

Anna Stevenson, a welfare benefit expert at anti-poverty charity Turn2us, said “radical measures” were needed to help “lift left-behind communities... out of poverty”.

A Treasury spokesman said it had injected more than £6.5bn into the welfare system.

He said: “Our unprecedented package of support will help ensure we continue to support people across the country as our economy reopens. Levelling up the country to create an economy that benefits the whole of the UK will be a crucial part of this.”