THE Langlands ward in Malvern is among most deprived areas of the country, according to figures just released.

A survey on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions measured every ward in England against seven different indicators including income, employment and housing.

Langlands was ranked 1,931 out of 8,414.

At the other end of the scale, Malvern Wells finished in the top ten per cent at 7,830.

Longdon, Ripple and the Hanleys have also been ranked among the most deprived wards in the category relating to geographical access to services.

This measures how far benefits claimants have to travel, "as the crow flies", to services such as the post office, doctor's surgery and food stores.

Ward councillor Stuart Sumner said most people who live in Longdon and the surrounding villages rely heavily on their cars.

"It's such a car orientated district, you'd be hard pushed to find people here who don't have their own transport. Nobody would come to live here without a car," he said.

"If you look at the figures under the income heading, Longdon has a very high scoring and all the houses that go up around here look like palaces.

"I'd be interested in knowing how many people in Longdon are actually on benefits."

Coun Sumner said that a planning application has been submitted to extend Longdon Village Hall to provide facilities for a post office and shop, which would make life easier for local people by cutting down on travelling time.

Gary Williams, head of development plans and consultation for Malvern Hills District Council, said the figures had been complied by a team from Oxford University and would help to identify broad needs and issues across the district.

"The factors and scores for the wards will be used by the district council in ensuring that services and strategies match needs," he said.

"The indices provide useful background for various initiatives such as community plan review, rural regeneration and major projects such as the local plan review."