HUNDREDS of people are dying in Brighton and Hove every year because of deprivation, a report reveals today.

Top doctor Tom Scanlon said low income and unemployment was causing 500 extra people a year to die in the city.

Dr Scanlon's report calls for a sustained, determined and co-ordinated approach is needed to tackle the differences in health and lifestyles which can be found across the city.

In his annual report published today he points out that one in six children across Brighton and Hove live in poverty - but this rises to one in three in the east of the city.

He said welfare cuts combined with high housing costs had worsened poverty with homelessness rising and food poverty growing as the number of food banks rises sharply.

The report points to the benefits of providing support at an early stage through children’s centres and other initiatives as well as the city’s programme of helping people facing major challenges through the Troubled Families programme.

Dr Scanlon, the city’s director of public health, said people from the statutory, private and voluntary sectors need to work together with residents to reduce the health gap between different parts of the city.

He said: “The two biggest drivers of inequality are income and employment.

“We have to move to a mind-set in the city where we are pushing up the opportunities for employment and not just any employment but employment that is remunerated properly. So employment that pays at least a living wage.

“The council can lead on this and other statutory organisations such as the NHS but you have to get buy in from a wider collection of people.

“One of the interesting things about inequalities is that when they exist at a societal level it’s not just the poor people who suffer.

“There are consequences across the whole of society because there are more homeless people on the street, more people get involved in crime and that impacts on everyone.

“We have to look at a situation where we get more buy in collectively across the city businesses, employers, schools, the statutory and third sector and citizens themselves have to buy in to the concept that we have to collectively make this better.”

The report will be officially launched at a ceremony at the Jubilee Library in Brighton this morning.