One in seven toddlers in Luton failed to meet key development milestones last year, new figures show.

A leading children's charity has warned under-resourced services such as family hubs have led to parents being unable to access crucial support.

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities figures show 86 per cent of 2,581 children aged between two and two-and-a-half in Luton reached the expected standard when they were assessed across five key development areas – in line with the year before.

This was below 2019-20, the latest data before the coronavirus pandemic, when 88 per cent of toddlers met the expected standard across all five areas.

A preschool age child playing with plastic building blocks. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA

placeholder image — A preschool age child playing with plastic building blocks. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA

And in Central Bedfordshire, figures show 55 per cent of 187 children aged between two and two-and-a-half reached the expected standard.

Across England, the proportion of young children developing as expected remained below pre-pandemic levels, despite rising slightly from 79% to 80%. Before the pandemic, this figure had reached 83 per cent.

Vicky Nevin, policy manager at the NSPCC, said even before the pandemic, too many children were "overlooked".

She added: "It's vital that parents can access trusted advice and support from professionals during this time. However, too often maternity, health visiting and family hubs services are under-resourced and hard to reach for families."

Ms Nevin urged the Government to address the shortages of 2,500 midwives and 5,000 health visitors.

She also highlighted concerning regional inequality, adding: "We need to ensure that children and families across the nation can access quality support – avoiding a postcode lottery.

"We hope to see ambitious commitments on this in the upcoming government spending review and the 10-year health plan."

The figures also showed regional inequality across the country, with children in Yorkshire and The Humber far outperforming their peers in London.

Some 86per cent of children in Yorkshire and The Humber met the expected standard across all five areas, but this dropped to just 75% for those in London.

In the East of England, 85 per cent of toddlers met the expected standard.

Ealing, in the capital, had the worst development rate in England at just 23 per cent, while Wokingham in the South East had the highest at 95 per cent.