SUICIDE rates in Bolton are “lower than expected”.

The interim director of Public Health in Bolton told councillors that while an average of 30 people a year taking their own life is 30 too many it was better than officers would have expected.

Sue Longden said: “30 people take their own life every year. That’s lower than we would expect for a borough of this demographic.

“Three quarters are men and nationally suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 45.”

Public Health measures Bolton against statistically similar authorities, like Bury, Oldham and Wigan, as well as some further afield like Derby and Plymouth. These are all authorities that mirror Bolton in terms of factors like economy, age groups and income. Mrs Longden said the high number of men under the age of 45 meant the rate would be higher.

Mrs Longden said: "If you have a population with more men of that age you would expect to see more suicides than somewhere with lots of older people or more women than men."

The reason suicide is the biggest killer of younger men is because they have a tendency not to talk about how they are feeling. Mrs Longden praised the work the Rugby League does around the State of Mind campaign which tries to get men who socialise in "macho environments" talking about mental health. For this reason Mrs Longden was keen that the town be successful in securing the Rugby League World Cup.

Mrs Longden said: "Every single suicide is a personal tragedy and when it's a child it's exceptionally tragic."

She told councillors that when she joined the council in 2016 there was concern that a "cluster" of under 16-year-olds were taking their own lives, but research into the matter found a "tragic coincidence".

Public health has been concentrating on bringing suicide help groups together as they had been "working in isolation" said Mrs Longden. She added: "In Bolton there is a lot of work with young people who are accessing out mental health services, we say 'what can we do to help you?'"

A suicide audit is being undertaken at the moment and the results will be published in the next few weeks.

This comprises a look at the coroner’s records by public health staff to see how many deaths were recorded as suicide, or possible suicide and to find out which services they were in touch with to understand how people can be helped in future.

Ms Longden said of the data seen so far around half of people who took their own lives in the last 12 months had been in contact with mental health services.

n Samaritans is available round the clock, every day of the year, providing a safe place to talk for anyone struggling to cope.

Call 116 123 (free to call and will not appear on your phone bill), 01204 521200 or email jo@samaritans.org