CENSUS data shows that Camden was one of the few councils in the country to see its population shrink in the last decade, as figures show that the number of children continues to fall sharply.

The number of schoolchildren has dropped by nearly a quarter, and the amount of working-age people between 20 and 45 fell by an average of 12 per cent.

The figures show that 10,000 people fewer were living in the borough during the once-a-decade count last year. Returns found that 210,100 people were resident, compared with 220,338 a decade ago.

The number of babies and young children aged under four was 24 per cent less than a decade ago. This tallies with difficulties faced by Camden’s schools to fill their rolls. Carlton Primary School shut recently closed, and secondary school entries being cut.

Similarly Westminster saw the largest fall in the number of people aged under 15 living there in the country, 19.4 per cent down, compared to Camden’s 10 per cent fall.