Young people in Swindon are harming themselves at a much higher rate than their counterparts in the rest of England, councillors will learn.

And it’s only getting worse.

Members of Swindon Borough Council’s health and wellbeing board will receive an update on the town’s mental health strategic needs assessment.

It will show that in 2017-18 there were 912 per 100,000 admissions to hospital after an incident of self-harm among 10-24 year olds in the borough.

That’s more than twice the England average of 421 per 100,000.

It represents a huge leap form the previous year when Swindon had 619 admissions per 100,000 population.

The report says: “It should be kept in mind, however, that self-harm often goes unreported and it is thought that hospital statistics underestimate overall rates of self-harm by about 60 per cent.

“Women (particularly young women)are a high-risk group for self-harm.The incidence of self-harm has continued to rise in the UK over the past 20 years.”