Nearly half of all neighbourhoods in England have become more “geographically deprived” over the past three years, according to a new government report. It found that closures of post office, surgeries, schools and shops have had a deep impact on 14,493 out of 32,439 communities.

The Oxford University study highlights levels of deprivation in regions which have traditionally lacked services, but also warns that even prosperous regions such as the South East are now home to some of the most deprived communities in the UK.

The report, posted on the Department of Communities and Local Government website, identifies areas suffering as a result of the closure of post offices or which pose residents with long journeys to see a GP. The researchers found that the North East has the greatest percentage of highly deprived areas — known as Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs). The North West is the region with the next highest percentage of LSOAs. The study also notes that less deprived regions — the South East, South West and East — each have between 6 per cent and 9 per cent of their LSOAs falling in the 20 per cent most deprived in England.

Concerns about vanishing local amenties have prompted a series of campaigns in recent years, most notably a fight to save local post offices from closure. In London, legal action to halt plans to shut scores of post offices in the city was launched this month. The Greater London Authority is seeking a judicial review to stop the closure of 171 branches as part of a Post Office restructuring.

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