THE gap in life expectancy between rich and poor in Britain is widening, according to the government’s own Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty.

And the gap between the amount of ill-health the two groups suffer is also widening, he says in his annual report.

Poorer people living in north Cumbria, County Durham and parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire had an average age of death of between 74 and 79, compared with southern areas where it was between 81 and 85.