There has been "no progress" in tackling the "appalling" number of children across the UK who are living in poverty, The Children's Society has said.

New figures from the Government show that the number of children living in severe poverty - below 50 per cent of the median household income - rose from 2.6 million in 2016/17 to 2.8 million in 2017/18. 

Children living in relative poverty - below 60 per cent of median household income - remained stable at 4.1 million. 

The percentage of children who were living in poverty despite having at least one parent working also rose from 67 per cent to 70 per cent in 2017/18. 

Overall, children were also more likely to be living in poverty (30 per cent) compared to a fifth of working age adults and 16 per cent of pensioners. 

The Children's Society's Chief Executive, Nick Roseveare, said it was "shameful" that so many children were still living in poverty. 

He called for an "urgent" response from the Government as he blamed freezes on benefits and child tax credits, as well as reductions and delays to Universal Credit for fuelling the situation. 

"Poverty has a devastating impact on children's health and happiness and can dramatically reduce their life chances," he said. 

"There has been no progress in tackling this appalling situation and these figures show an increase in the number of children trapped in poverty who are from working families." 

He added: "It's vital that these figures act as a wake-up call for ministers and that the Government acts now to end the benefits freeze, address problems with Universal Credit and give councils a dedicated pot of funding to offer crisis support to struggling families."

The call follows a recent report from The Children's Society in which it warned that more children were being put at risk because of cuts being made by "cash-strapped councils" to welfare schemes designed to help struggling families in the form of shopping vouchers, electricity meter top-ups, white goods and cash grants. 

The report, Nowhere To Turn, said 23 councils had abandoned the schemes in a bid to cut costs, while the number of people receiving crisis support from the Government had dropped by 75 per cent since the Government devolved responsibility to councils in 2013. In further funding cuts two years later, separate cash grants were also axed.

Since 2012/13, the number of successful applicants for crisis support has fallen from 737,000 in 2012/13 to only 187,000 in 2017/18. 

In addition to budget cuts, The Children's Society said the strict eligibility criteria and lack of promotion by some councils meant that fewer families were being able to access crisis support.