Television star David Harewood says he is shocked by the poverty in a deprived area of his home city.

The Robin Hood actor has returned to Birmingham to make a short documentary film on the plight of Ladywood.

It will be screened next Monday, October 12, in the first of a new run of the BBC1 regional factual series Inside Out.

Harewood grew up in another inner-city area of Birmingham, Washwood Heath, as the son of a lorry driver.

But he says he did not realise how bad problems had become in Ladywood, named last year as the worst area in the country for child poverty.

It is the Parliamentary constituency with the highest number of children in or close to poverty, with 81 per cent, or almost 30,000, fighting for financial survival.

The figures come from The Campaign To End Child Poverty, which classes households as being in poverty if they are living on less than £10 per person per day.

David, 43, said: “Every time I come back to Birmingham I notice how the city centre has changed so remarkably.

“It is admirable that so much money has been spent here. But just eight minutes down the road there’s a patch of the city that’s been forgotten.

“Ladywood is a run-down area where people are struggling to participate in Birmingham’s glass-fronted makeover. They are locked out of the wealth that has been generated elsewhere.

“I found it very shocking that you can still find such poverty in the city.

“I met a family who were really struggling and who spoke movingly about how little they had. It was very much a case of living hand to mouth.

“I went shopping with them – it’s one of the household chores I do at home but I’m used to just throwing food in the trolley. They have to think carefully about every single thing they buy.

“We went to the top of the Hyatt Hotel and could literally see where the investment stopped and the poverty began.

“I don’t know what the answer is but the government needs to invest in people.”