HEART disease is a bigger killer in Gosport than anywhere else in the region, a new report has revealed.

The results for Gosport are in stark contrast to Fareham where residents have the lowest rate of heart disease death.

The report - commissioned by Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Health Authority - showed that Fareham's rate is well below the national average.

This good news for Fareham follows statistics released earlier this year which put the town's women top of the region for living longer. Those in the 15 to 44 age bracket had a 40 in 100,000 mortality rate, which compared well with other towns in the South.

Gosport residents are more likely to die from heart disease than people in Portsmouth and Havant which have areas of poor living standards and high unemployment.

Figures for the under-65s show that people in the health authority area have a better than national average rate for dying from heart disease as a whole.

However, when these figures are broken down 49 people per 100,000 in Gosport die from the disease compared to 26 per 100,000 in Fareham. The national average is 40 per 100,000 and the regional average is 31.

And the results are no better in an all-ages group, with 100 per 100,000 in Gosport falling prey to coronary heart disease.

This is the same as the national average, but above the regional average of 87.

Yet again, Fareham is the healthiest in this all-ages group with 85 per 100,000 heart disease deaths.

The research showed a strong link between deprivation and coronary heart disease, with residents in deprived areas 24 per cent more likely to die from heart disease.

Obesity, fatty diets and smoking were shown to be far higher in Gosport than Fareham, said Dr Paul Edmonson-Jones, a consultant with the health authority.

Doctor Declan Lynch, from the Stoke Road practice, chairs the Gosport Health Improvement Committee.

He said a great deal was being done to tackle the problem, including a nurse based at Gosport War Memorial hospital who will monitor patients who have had heart attacks or angina.

This nurse, who starts in April, will check cholesterol levels and see patients are stopping smoking.