It is the 75th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier, in which he travelled to the north of England to see how 'the poor' lived.

In The Road to Wigan Pier: Revisited, author Stephen Armstrong retraces the journey made by Orwell in 1937.

He described meeting two relatives of people George Orwell spoke to, one of whom is now a high court judge.

Orwell biographer Professor Stephen Ingle said that the author would have been surprised at the progress that has been made in social equality.

But Stephen Armstrong said that on retracing Orwell's steps, he discovered that poverty is "back to the levels of 1930's".

"Victorian style poverty is increasing", he said.

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