Poor people give more to charity than the wealthy, research has revealed.

Council house residents give most, while affluent households find they have the least to spare, the study for The Giving Campaign found.

The most charitable towns were revealed to be Sunderland, Blackpool and Motherwell, even though all three are among the poorest in the country - with Sunderland ranked fifth poorest.

Affluent London, ranked 23 in terms of wealth, had the least number of donors among its busy population.

Amanda Delew, director of The Giving Campaign, said: "It is staggering to think that, although the better-off have more money than ever before, it is the poorer people in society who are giving their money away to good causes."

The research also revealed a clear North-South divide, with generous northerners giving far more than their southern counterparts.

Towns were ranked by wealth from 1 to 114 for the research carried out by Experian, with Guildford in Surrey being the wealthiest and the Welsh town of Llandrindod Wells the poorest. Guildford languished near the bottom of the giving pile (107) while Llandrindod Wells came higher at 72.

The average wealth within the 10 most charitable towns was found to be significantly lower than the national average.

The 10 towns with the lowest number of donors have an average wealth of twice the national average.

Ms Delew added: "I'd like to see people across the UK working to generate a culture of giving, where it is natural for people - particularly the wealthy - to give generously towards the good causes they care about."