Brighton and Hove has been named the drugs death capital of the UK, ranked above major cities like London, Manchester and Birmingham.

More than one person a week died from drugs in the city last year.

A report published today by the European Centre for Addiction Studies shows Brighton and Hove has a drugs-death rate of 28 per 100,000 of the population over the age of 16.

The rates for East and West Sussex were 4.32 and 1.84 respectively. There were 58 deaths reported in Brighton and Hove compared to 17 in East Sussex and 11 in West Sussex in 2001.

Compiled from coroner's reports across the UK, the figures for the Brighton and Hove area are down on last year's rate of 32.3 per 100,000 but still up on the rate for 1999 of 24.1.

Heroin and morphine were the main causes of death but there were large increases in cocaine-related, amphetamine-related and ecstasy-related deaths.

There are about 2,000 known intravenous drug-users in the city but health experts say the exact figure is probably much higher.

Hugh Williams, a consultant psychiatrist at the Substance Misuse Centre in Brighton and Hove, said there were several factors believed to be causing the high numbers.

He said: "We have large numbers of people coming into the area who have drug problems.

"Although we are helping a large number of people, there are others who are not in the system - a so-called hidden population.

"These are the ones we are working towards finding and helping.

"There are a number of risk factors for drug users in the city. These include not getting any treatment, homelessness and mixing drugs with alcohol, which is a particularly dangerous combination.

"There are also links with depression and suicidal thoughts. Drug users have a higher rate of suicide than anyone else."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust, which is responsible for the health of people in the city, said: "We take this issue extremely seriously.

"We are working very hard with colleagues, including the ambulance service, voluntary groups, hospitals and the prison service, to reduce the numbers of drug-related deaths.

"Our work has included a unique confidential inquiry into the details of these deaths to help identify where we can stop this from happening.

"Doing this helped us find out most people were visiting A&E before they died and we now have a new substance misuse nurse to work at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

"We recognise much more needs to be done. Drug-related deaths are on the increase generally and we will continue to work hard to tackle this in our city."

Report co-author Mike Pollard of the Department of Addictive Behaviour at St George's Hospital medical school in London, said: "Brighton has been top or close to the top of the list every year since we first started publishing these reports in 1997.

"An important factor is the area is a seaside city and popular tourist spot.

"It tends to draw people to it. If an area gets a reputation for drug use then it can be difficult to get rid of."

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Cheesman said police in Brighton and Hove were proactively targeting drug dealers as part of a drive to reduce drug-related crimes and deaths.

He said: "We work in partnership with other agencies, including the council and housing organisations.

"However, we still rely on intelligence coming in to us about drug dealers and would urge anyone who has any information to get in contact with us."