More unhappy people from Brighton and Hove are killing themselves than residents of almost any other place in the country.

Government figures show that Brighton and Hove has the second highest suicide rate in England.

The UK Statistics Authority found that between 2005 and 2008 an average of 18 people in every 100,000 in the city took their own lives.

Only Blackpool had a higher rate, at 21 suicides per 100,000 people.

The city's suicide rate was substantially higher than other parts of Sussex.

Even Eastbourne, the site of suicide hotspot Beachy Head, had only 15 suicides per 100,000 people in the area.

Colin Anderson, the director of Brighton and Hove Samaritans, said that the city’s young transitional population could be behind the number of suicides.