The segregation in conurbation such as Bradford, Leicester and Oldham is as severe as in the black ghettos of divided American cities such as New York or Chicago, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian said.

The broadsheets cited a study of British conurbation led by Mike Poulsen, a geography lecturer from Macquarie University in Sydney.

"It's alarming that UK cities are rising up the world rankings in terms of segregation," Poulsen told the annual Royal Geographical Society meeting in London.

"The idea was that people would assimilate. The danger is that the assimilation process is so slow that for many it is just not possible."