Nearly half of Croydon's children are "not ready" to start school by the age of five, a new report has revealed.

Only 56.5 per cent of the borough's school-starters were sufficiently developed, with thousands cognitively, socially and emotionally unprepared for the classroom, according to Public Health England (PHE).

Development by age five has a significant impact on future educational achievement and children who are not ready for school struggle with literacy, numeracy and physical and social skills.

Croydon's rate of "school readiness" was the fifth worst in London, according to the report, published on Monday.

Just 47.7 per cent of children in receipt of school meals were prepared for the classroom, it found.

But the borough's overall rate improved by 10.5 percentage points between between 2012/13 and 2013/14.

Dr Yvonne Doyle, PHE's regional director for London, said: "The first five years of a child’s life, the foundation years, are absolutely critical; healthy early child development is fundamental to school readiness, which can have a major impact on a child’s life chances."

PHE said its report showed the importance of parental support and investment in early education.

Croydon Council said it hoped its Best Start programme, which launched this year with a £1.5m Government grant, would improve the prospects of children.

A council spokesman said: "Developing the potential of all our local children is a top council priority, especially because Croydon has London’s biggest and youngest population.

"We know children can thrive if they develop well physically, mentally and socially from birth, which is why we’re working closer than ever with NHS partners to develop the innovative Croydon Best Start programme.

"This scheme makes sure some of our most disadvantaged young families get the support they need when they need it from each child’s conception to the age of five by making council, GP, midwifery and community health services more joined up and accessible."