COASTAL communities are lagging behind inland areas with some of the worst levels of economic and social deprivation in the country, a report has found.

Comparison of earnings, employment, health and education data in local authority areas identified “pockets of significant deprivation” in seaside towns and a widened gap between coastal communities and the rest of the country.

Analysis by The Social Market Foundation (SMF) think-tank found that 85 per cent of Great Britain’s 98 coastal local authorities had pay levels below the national average for 2016, when employees in seaside communities were paid about £3,600 less.

The report singled out North Ayrshire was one of in Scotland as one of five of the 10 local authorities in the UK with the highest unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2017.

Scott Corfe, SMF’s chief economist and author of the report, said: “Many coastal communities are poorly connected to major employment centres in the UK, which compounds the difficulties faced by residents in these areas.

Not only do they lack local job opportunities, but travelling elsewhere for work is also relatively difficult.

“The Government needs to do more to track – and address – economic problems in our coastal towns.”

Councillor Alex Gallagher, North Ayrshire Council’s economy spokesman, said: “We are working to alleviate the hardship and inequality faced by our residents.

“The Ardrossan and Three Towns area [comprising Saltcoats, Stevenson and Ardrossan] is no exception and faces the same difficult challenges affecting many communities across the UK.”

Earlier this year, the council set aside more than £5 million specifically to fight against poverty in North Ayrshire.