Problems with malnourished children are turning up to school in dirty uniforms and stuffing food in their pockets because they are living in poverty are not just limited to deprived areas, a council chief has warned.

Speaking at the National Education Union (NEU) annual conference in Brighton, primary school leaders described how children across the country are turning up at the school gates showing visible signs of poverty, such as grey skin and poor teeth, hair and nails.

In some cases, youngsters have failed to arrive for class because they do not have shoes, while others have been spotted in their uniforms at weekends because they have nothing else to wear, it was suggested.

One said that education issues such as league table positions are fast becoming secondary to dealing with the impact of financial hardship among pupils.

But education chief at Blackburn with Darwen Council, Cllr Dave Harling, said it was not a problem limited to schools in deprived areas.

He said: “Even in schools in more affluent areas there are always kids who come from homes with difficulties and teachers realise that and do what they can.

“I think in terms of some of our schools in more deprived areas – we have always supported them in this sort of way.

“It’s not just about their education, it’s also about the social care side of things.

“In schools in Shadsworth and Bank Top, we have done a lot of work over the years with families who have not had a lot of resources so they have supported the children in many ways.

“Breakfast clubs never used to exist in schools and they weren’t set up as extra child care, they were set up because children were coming to school hungry.

“It’s to ensure the kids start the day with something in their bellies.”

Cllr Harling added lots of schools in the borough have recycling schemes for school uniforms to help families struggling financially.

He said: “Schools are not just about what children learn in class, it’s wider than that. If a child is unhappy or troubled they’re not going to learn.

“You’re not going to learn if you have got an empty belly or your dad is beating your mother.

“A lot of schools now have family workers who are there to help with this sort of situations.

“These are all things which didn’t used to exist. Schools used to work closely with wider agencies like councils and other organisations.

“As the squeeze on public funding has progressed, councils are a lot less able to help schools in the way they used to.

“A lot of it comes down to money but putting that to one side, some schools have always had a greater awareness of the needs of their kids and some of our schools do exceptionally well.”

The Government said it is taking measures to close the attainment gap and to support disadvantaged children.

According to latest figures from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) there were four million children in the UK living in poverty - equivalent to nine in every classroom of 30 pupils.

A poll of around 900 NEU members found that 87 per cent think that poverty is having a significant impact on the learning of their pupils.

A DfE spokesman said they have launched a social mobility action plan, which sets out measures to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their classmates and targets areas that need the most support.

He added: "Alongside this we continue to support the country's most disadvantaged children through free school meals, the £2. 5billion funding given to schools through the Pupil Premium to support their education and the recently announced a £26 million investment to kick-start or improve breakfast clubs in at least 1,700 schools."