MEN living along one side of Queen’s Drive can expect to live eight years longer than their near-neighbours, newly published figures suggest.

Councillors have called for action to tackle Swindon’s life expectancy divide.

Figures show that men living in Swindon’s most deprived area on average die eight years younger than those in the town’s most affluent neighbourhoods. For women, the number is four years.

The figures, published in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment’s latest overview of health and wellbeing in Swindon, also show that:

:: In Swindon’s most deprived areas of Swindon, men live on average 14.1 years less in good health than those in the least deprived areas.

:: Women in the most deprived areas live 12.1 years less in good health than their wealthiest counterparts.

:: The life expectancy gap puts Swindon on a par with similarly -sized cities Peterborough and Bury.

Three of the eight most deprived communities in Swindon are within the Walcot and Park North ward, three are in Penhill and Upper Stratton and a further two lie within the Gorsehill and Pinehurst ward.

Citing the difference in life expectancy between Old Walcot and Walcot on opposite sides of Queen’s Drive, Walcot and Park North councillor Emma Bushell said: “I think it’s just a damning indictment on the society we live in. It’s not acceptable in a developed society. It’s not acceptable in Swindon.”

Coun Carol Shelley, who represents Gorse Hill and Pinehurst, said that the statistics “reflected the poverty” of areas in Swindon like poverty – with a range of factors, including unemployment and low wage jobs, contributing to the life expectancy divide.

She called for a focus on children as a way to tackle poverty-linked health problems: “One of the major things we should be looking at is to reopen our children’s centres.”

At a meeting of the borough council’s health and wellbeing board this week, where the new statistics were presented, director of adults’ social services Sue Wald said that the understanding of deprivation and health would help the council “target” its activities aimed at preventing ill health.

“I think that will show us where we need to target some of our work in particular to achieve the greatest result,” she said.