Dumbarton and the Vale is home to some of the most deprived areas in Scotland whilst also housing some of the least deprived.

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), published last week, is a tool for identifying the places where people are experiencing disadvantage across different aspects of their lives.

Locally, it shows reveals parts of Haldane, Bonhill, central Renton, Brucehill, and Westcliff are among the most deprived. And there are streets in Castlehill that are in the top 1.5 per cent of the most deprived areas in the country.

Each area has been given a data zone ranking, with 1 representing the most deprived and 6,976.

The areas with the least deprivation were Balloch, spots in Alexandria, south of Bonhill, Townend, Dumbarton east, Bowling and Old Kilpatrick - which ranked 6,393 overall.

In the middle, were Jamestown, central Alexandria, Bellsmyre, Milton and Silverton.

In some areas, there are very deprived spots next to the least deprived. For example in Haldane, part of Shandon Crescent is 4,507 in the overall rankings, while adjoining street Shandon Brae ranks 299 overall.

In Bonhill, the area surrounding Strathleven Drive scores 5,794 while across the A813 Nobleston and the surrounding area scores 2,088.

And in Castlehill, Hawthorn Road into Maple Avenue goes from 99 to 3,536 in rankings.

READ MORE: No end in sight to 40-year poverty battle in Dumbarton

West Dunbartonshire overall ranks fourth overall in terms of most deprived council areas, following Inverclyde, Glasgow City and North Ayrshire. It has high levels of deprivation across 40 per cent of the local authority – no change from 2012.

Martin Docherty-Hughes MP said:“These statistics are a stark reminder of what we knew already – which is that too many people in our communities continue to suffer from poverty and inequality.

“The damaging legacy of the social and economic policies of the Thatcher years is still being felt today. Deep-seated deprivation in parts of West Dunbartonshire and across Scotland means that many individuals and families are unfairly disadvantaged compared to others.

“I believe we can do better than this, and locally we’re seeing welcome investment from the council in affordable housing, better schools and economic regeneration in our town centres and the development of Dumbarton waterfront.

“However, for as long as we’re subject to UK government welfare cuts and austerity efforts to tackle to the root causes of poverty will remain challenging.

“The impact of Brexit is also a concern; but whatever the future holds we must continue working to bring skilled jobs and investment to West Dunbartonshire.”

The SIMD measures across seven domains: current income, employment, health, education, skills and training, housing, geographic access and crime.

The index is used by local authorities and the Scottish Government and other bodies to support policy and decision making, for example, to calculate school attainment funding.

Roger Halliday, Scotland’s chief statistician, said: "I welcome these statistics and the work done to make this complex information more easily accessible. I know how widely the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation is used as a vital resource for local planning, by third sector organisations bringing together resources needed to do their great work, and by many others. However, we must also focus on the strengths and assets of communities if we are to work together to make Scotland a fair and inclusive place to live."

Overall, the least deprived area is in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, and the most deprived area is in Greenock town centre.

Aileen Campbell, communities secretary, said: “We will continue to work in partnership with local government, the third sector and communities themselves to do all we can to tackle the causes of inequality and support the regeneration of our towns and cities.”