English is foreign tongue in 25 pc of London households
London, Dec. 14 (ANI)
English is a foreign tongue in up to a quarter of households in parts of London, a census has found.
Census figures released earlier this week highlighted the changing face of the UK over the past decade.
It revealed just 44.9 percent of Londoners described themselves as white British, the Daily Mail reports.
According to the report, the data from the Office for National Statistics also indicated that English is not regularly spoken in between 20 and 25 percent of houses in a number of regions across the capital.
In thousands of other homes only the children living there regularly speak English.
In the east London region of Newham 24.3 percent of households are home to nobody who speaks English as their main language.
In Brent, in north-west London, and in Westminster, the figure is 22.4 percent, the report said.
Work is underway in ethnically diverse Newham to encourage people living in the area to use English.
According to the report, Mayor Sir Robin Wales has said the council is concerned that the language barrier could leave women and elderly people isolated in their homes.
The local authority has even stopped the supply of foreign language newspapers to local libraries as part of its policy to promote integration, the report added.