Nearly a third of jobs in Harrow are paid less than London Living Wage, according to a new study.

Analysis carried out by Trust for London, an independent charity foundation, showed that 32 per cent of jobs in the borough offered less than £10.20 an hour.

It comes following calls for businesses to pay employees a Living Wage – as opposed to the minimum required – to help reduce in-work poverty in the UK.

Harrow Council pays its staff at least the minimum expected to live in the capital, and Cllr Adam Swersky, responsible for finance, has urged more employers to take it up.

He said: “There are too many people in Harrow who work all day and come home with poverty wages.

“We are passionately committed to fighting the injustice of low pay right across our borough.

“That means first and foremost ensuring all our own staff are paid a genuine living wage. It also means doing everything we can to ensure our contractors pay staff a decent wage too.

“Levels of low pay are far too high across Harrow. We will support businesses in any way we can to help them offer better pay and conditions to their workers.

“That's why we've given a business rate discount to firms that pay the London Living Wage and why our employment and skills programmes focus as much as on career progression as job-finding.”

The Living Wage is the UK is calculated at £8.75 an hour. In London, this increases to £10.20 an hour.

Employers are obliged to pay their staff a minimum of £7.83 if they are aged 25 and over, while those aged 21 to 24 will receive at least £7.38.

Workers aged 18 to 20 are paid at least £5.90 per hour, and those aged 16 and 17 must be given a minimum of £4.20 an hour.

Trust for London has been a long-standing supporter of the Living Wage, noting the “important differences” between the chancellor’s national wage and the independently-calculated figure.

It helps provide funding for the campaign to encourage more employers to offer a Living Wage.