Men in Bolton’s life expectancy is two years lower than average, according to “staggering” new figures.

Findings from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities showed that the average life expectancy for men in Bolton was 76 and a half years, below the national average of 78.7 years.

For women, life expectancy stood at 80.4 years.

David Finch, assistant director at The Health Foundation, a charity working to tackle health inequalities said: "There are staggering differences in life chances in the UK depending on where people live.

"Prior to the pandemic, improvements in health had stalled while inequalities had widened.

"This includes major variation in healthy life expectancy between different areas of the country but also within local areas, sometimes between places that are just a few miles from one another."

The same figures show that wealthiest fifth of Bolton men can expect to live 9.1 years longer than the least well-off, with a difference of 8.1 years for women.

Mr Finch said: "Such marked differences in health are partly related to the varying conditions in which people are born, live and work."

He added that an absence of economic and educational opportunities in poorer areas will likely impact the health and wellbeing of the most deprived.