By the seaside: heroin deaths in England & Wales

Newly released analysis of ONS drug deaths data for England and Wales has revealed a trend. When looking at the local authority districts with the most deaths related to heroin and morphine, the most affected areas are dominated by places on the coast.

As our chart shows, between 2014 and 2016, the death rate was highest in Blackpool, and by a long way. In that time period 14 deaths per 100,000 population in the seaside district were attributable to heroin and/or morphine. Although the landlocked district of Burnley is in second position with 7.6 deaths, the list is dominated by coastal areas, with Hasting, Portsmouth and Scarborough among those with the highest rates.