Least Integrated Communities In The UK Revealed

A market town in England where one in six people is foreign-born has been labelled the least-integrated town in the UK.

Boston in Lincolnshire (above) has seen a surge of Eastern Europeans moving to the area where factory and agricultural jobs are readily-available.

However, the Policy Exchange think-tank have found that the area has become extremely segregated as a result.

Neighbouring towns Spalding and Wisbech also feature in the list of the five worst integrated places in the country.

The research found that people living in the less prosperous industrial heartlands lived parallel lives with people who move to the communities.

On the other end of the scale, the more prosperous areas and small towns near London and Birmingham were the most-integrated, with Amersham being top of the list.

Least integrated: Old industrial towns had more segregation between residents (Policy Exchange Think-Tank)

The think-tank analysed data from the 2011 census to compare places with a population of at least 20,000 where a minimum of 15% of people were from an ethnic minority.

The least integrated areas contained ethnic minorities predominately from either Pakistan or Eastern Europeans.

Areas with a high Muslim population had the highest levels of deprivation and segregation between residents.

David Goodhart, from Policy Exchange, said: “We know people of similar backgrounds tend to cluster together but we also know that a good society needs a sense of trust and mutual regard that crosses social and ethnic boundaries.

“It is critical that this country retains some sense of mutual regard between citizens.”

Top pic: Rex