A leading children's charity has warned local authorities must invest in early intervention schemes for vulnerable residents, despite cutting wider services, after shocking research suggested 70% of British families were close to ‘financial meltdown'.

The charity, 4Children, issued its warning in response to a survey by the Netmums website. The study of 2,000 families, published on 16 February, found that 70% of families were ‘on the edge' financially, as the triple whammy of rising unemployment and central and local government cuts took hold.