'Posh-poor divide' Areas of inequality have risen in England, analysis shows

The homes of people in Nunsthorpe, a postwar former council estate known locally as "the Nunny", sit only a few metres away from their more affluent neighbours in Scartho, with their conservatories and driveways.

- Jessica Murray Michael Goodier

Walking between the two is almost impossible because of a 1.8-metre-high (6ft) barricade between them, which blocks off roads and walkways that link the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

Journeys that should take only a few seconds have become a 25-minute walk down to the open field on the edge of the estate, or through the grounds of a hospital, to bypass the wall.

"It's the posh-poor divide," said Serenity Colley, 37, who lives in Nunsthorpe with her partner and children. "It has been there for as long as I've known, since the new estate was built. I don't think they'll bring it down because I don't think they'll want to mix with us. In some ways I don't blame them because they are spending a lot of money on those houses, they want to protect what they've got. There's a massive gap and it's blatantly obvious."

A Guardian analysis of figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - looking at the most and least deprived 10% of areas in England - reveals how deep inequality can run, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or, in this case, a wall.

After years of austerity and underinvestment, almost two-thirds of councils contain a neighbourhood that ranks as one of the most deprived in the country, compared with just under half in 2004. As deprivation has become more geographically widespread, there has been a stark increase in the number of places where deprived and affluent people live side by side.

One possible reason for the rise is the creation of new-build housing estates on the outskirts of towns, next to existing social housing. But the higher figures are also partly a result of the collection of extra data in order to give a truer picture of the spread of deprivation.