COUNCIL leaders in Darlington are being asked to back a plan aimed at stopping the "spiral of decline" in eleven of the town's poorest wards.
New Government figures show that ten wards in Darlington are among the most deprived in the country.
Central, Cockerton West, Bank Top, Eastbourne, Lascelles, Park East, Northgate, Haughton East, North Road and Lingfield are ranked within the worst 25 per cent in England, according to the latest Index of Multiple Deprivation.
The first seven of those wards are within the worst ten per cent.
Pierremont and Cockerton East have also been identified as deprived wards.
Darlington Partnership has devised an action plan to tackle deprivation, which the borough council's cabinet will be asked to endorse at a meeting on Tuesday.
Cliff Brown, the borough council's director of community services, said: "The aim of the strategy and action plan is to address the spiral of decline in the eleven wards identified."
Areas covered by the strategy include the environment, transport, the local economy, community safety, health, education, inclusion and leisure.
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