A CAMPAIGN is being launched to cut the number of suicides in Darlington -once the suicide capital of the country.

High-risk groups are to be targeted in the poster campaign by Darlington Primary Care Trust.

The trust's mental health improvement specialist, Vicky Waterson, said four posters had been produced, each targeting different groups - men, stressed workers, older people and youngsters.

She said: "Young men are still the most at risk group and suicide remains the single largest cause of death in men under the age of 35.

"Elderly people can decide to take their own lives because they, or their carers, feel isolated. The campaign is designed to let everyone know there is support out there for them."

Until recently, Darlington had one of the worst suicide records in the country with rates well above the national average.

From 2001 to 2003, 53 people took their own lives, mainly young men in work.

The rate of 14 suicides per 100,000 people compared with a national average of ten per 100,000.

But the rate has now fallen to 10.2 per 100,000, much closer to the current national figure of 9.5.

Rates have begun to fall in the wake of a series of measures aimed at tackling the town's unenviable record.

The new poster campaign follows an audit of suicides in the town and the implementation of a new strategy.

This included staging a multi-agency conference and workshops, working closely with the housing department, the police, the Samaritans and the town's drug and alcohol addiction service, issuing prescribed drugs, such as anti-depressants and painkillers, which cannot be used to overdose and the drawing up of an action plan.