Researchers at Sheffield and Bristol Universities have found that the gap between the life expectancy of those living in the richest and poorest areas of the UK is now greater than it was in the 1920s and 1930s.

Analysing official mortality data, they found that between 1999 and 2007, for every 100 deaths before the age of 65 in the richest tenth of areas, there were 212 in the poorest tenth.

This compared with 191 deaths in the poorest areas in the period 1921-1930 and 185 deaths from 1931 to 1939.

Professor Danny Dorling, who led the research team, commented:

“Health and wealth are directly linked and, unless we tackle the income gap, we could well see life expectancy actually starting to fall for the first time in the poorest areas.”

The research findings will no doubt add fuel to the debate over the Coalition’s plans to increase the speed at which the state pension age in the UK is set to rise.