More than half of primary school teachers say many children in their classes have never been read a bedtime story, a new survey revealed yesterday.

The lack of storytelling at home is damaging children's writing abilities, researchers believe.

The poll found 55.7 per cent of primary school teachers have taught children who have never been read a story. The Oxford University Press survey of 300 teachers also found 72 per cent of them believe primary school children are less able to tell stories than they were 10 years ago.

Literary expert and former primary head teacher Pie Corbett said: "To develop children as writers, reading is absolutely essential.

"Every teacher knows the best writers, the most proficient writers, are always readers. It not only gives children language, it also develops their imaginations.

"Storytelling is also hugely important, as the ability to tell a story is developed by building up a bank of well-known tales to draw upon.

"Those who struggle may not yet have built up that storehouse. For example, if they are not read to at home, they are unfamiliar with the language patterns. "Narrative is a necessary, primary act of mind and natural to all human beings - we are all story-makers whether we like it or not."