A SHAMEFUL list of Britain's unpaid child maintenance blackspots has revealed Scunthorpe as one of the worst areas for debt.

A league table ranking 238 constituency areas in order of the amount owed in child support showed Scunthorpe was 31st worst with a deficit of nearly £8.7 million.

North Lincolnshire's other constituencies fared slightly better, with Cleethorpes ranked 46th with an unpaid bill of £8,535,000 and Brigg and Goole 171st with £6,855,000.

Grimsby topped the dismal poll, released by single parent charity Gingerbread, with a massive £11,069,000 owed to single parents, while the area with the lowest arrears was Mid-Ulster, with £232,000.

A spokesman for the Child Support Agency (CSA) said the cash had accumulated over a period of 17 years.

He said: "While we share Gingerbread's view that responsibility for unpaid maintenance rests ultimately with non-resident parents, it should be noted CSA arrears have actually been falling recently.

"Regrettably, some parents go to great lengths to avoid their financial responsibility to their children, requiring costly and time-consuming enforcement action to be taken against them.

"But we do not give up on cases and nor do we write off accumulated arrears."

He added: "It's important to bear in mind the size of the constituency may be a factor on a town's high ranking and the arrears are a culmination of the CSA's 17 years of operation – nothing has been written off."

While the majority of the money is owed to parents caring for children, the figure also includes funds owed to the Government.

Gingerbread's chief executive Fiona Weir said help was available for lone parents struggling in North Lincolnshire.

She said: "Child maintenance is vital for children in separated families.

"We know from single parents that this is much-needed money which pays for items such as children's clothes, school meals, trips, activities and childcare.

"Ultimately, the responsibility for paying child maintenance rests with the non-resident parent, but the Child Support Agency has to do its job, too, in collecting debts and enforcing payment.

"We want to help single parents caring for children take action to ensure their arrears are paid."

The release of the league table coincided with a national landmark court ruling which forced a dad who owed more than £78,000 in child support to take his four- bedroom house off the market.

The case used new rules, known as freezing orders, preventing quick sales of assets in a bid to dodge CSA payments.

James Pirrie, chairman of the Child Maintenance Committee of Resolution, said: ''The sooner people realise payment of their child maintenance obligations is non-negotiable, the better.

"Everyone can then focus on making sure the calculation of how much has to be paid is accurate and appropriate."

Parents can phone Gingerbread's free Single Parent Helpline on 0808 802 0925 and get a Top Tips leaflet on how to pursue their child maintenance arrears.