The most deprived areas of Somerset West and Taunton have been revealed in the latest 2021 census results.

The figures come as part of a more detailed set of results from the snapshot of England and Wales captured in March last year.

As part of the 2021 census, households in England and Wales were classified in terms of four different "dimensions of deprivation", which are based on certain characteristics.

The first is where any member of a household, who is not a full-time student, is either unemployed or long-term sick, and the second covers households where no person has at least five or more GCSE passes or equivalent qualifications, and no 16 to 18-year-olds at the home are full-time students.

The third dimension is where any person in the household has general health that is “bad” or “very bad” or has a long-term health problem, and the fourth where the household’s accommodation is either overcrowded or is in a shared dwelling, or has no central heating.

Office for National Statistics data show 49.6% of households in Somerset West and Taunton were deprived in at least one of these "dimensions" when the most recent census was carried out.

It meant the area stood below the average across England and Wales​, of 51.7%. Comparative 2011 figures for Somerset West and Taunton as a whole are unavailable due to local government reorganisation.

A further breakdown reveals which of the area's 19 neighbourhoods were most affected by deprivation last year.

In Somerset West and Taunton, the three areas with the highest deprivation rates were:

1) Taunton Pyrland and Priorswood – 61.2% of households here were deprived in at least one dimension at the time of the 2021 census, down from 66.7% in 2011

2) Taunton Holway and Lambrook – 61%, ​falling from 64.8% in 2011

3) Watchet, Washford and Carhampton – 59.4%, a drop from 65.8% in 2011

By contrast, the neighbourhood with the lowest level of deprivation was Taunton Halcon and Monkton Heathfield, at 41.4% of households.

The ONS said deprivation is a "complex topic", adding that more detailed information would come in future releases.