Dogsey

Dr Simon Harding, a lecturer in criminology at the University of Middlesex and author of Unleashed: The Phenomena of Status Dogs and Weapons Dogs, said he wasn’t “surprised” by the figures.

He said, “Deprived areas are often more populous with larger families, more children, more pets and more people living in closer proximity to each other and dogs. Also dogs tend to be exercised in public, rather than in gardens or remote fields.

“At the same time people in poorer areas use dogs for protection, instead of alarms or house insurance and there is an underlying trend towards the use of aggressive Pit Bull-type breeds as weapon or status dogs.”

According to the HSCIC report there were 1,240 admissions to hospital for bites and strikes in the 10 per cent most deprived areas out of total figures of 9,710 admissions across the country – an increase of over seven per cent on the previous 12 months.

Worryingly for campaigners the figures, for the year to January 2014, also show that children suffer most from dog bites, with more injuries to their head than any other age group.