Former industrial and mining areas were 'left behind' says new report

Many in region have been left with fewer opportunities

- DAVID LYNCH

OLD industrial and mining communities across the Midlands and other parts of Britain are facing "entrenched disadvantage" stretching back some 50 years, the latest research on social mobility has found.

So-called left-behind communities in the Midlands, Yorkshire, Wales and the North East, which were rapidly de-industrialised throughout the late 20th century, are still disadvantaged and facing decline after decades in the same condition, the Social Mobility Commission (SMC) warned.

Large parts of Staffordshire and the Black Country were once home to large mining operations, but they have all since gone.