A CITY which aspired to be Europe's Capital of Culture still faces major health problems, according to a study.

Despite the successful "re-branding" of Newcastle as a desirable place to live and work, a report by Newcastle Primary Care Trust suggests the city's population is one of the most unhealthy in England.

But Dr Claire Bradford, the trust's director of public health said there was some good news.

She pointed to falling death rates from heart disease and strokes as evidence of improving general health.

However, while rates of death from lung cancer have shown a slight decline, rates in women have shown little change.

As part of a co-ordinated effort to improve the health of Newcastle, the PCT is involved in projects including helping people give up smoking, supporting the development of school breakfast clubs, helping elderly people to keep warm during winter and reducing accidents.

Dr Bradford said the way forward was to back health policies which favoured the less well-off and reduced inequalities.

Maps of Newcastle in the report starkly illustrate the extreme differences in wealth between places like Benwell and Elswick, which are among the top five per cent most deprived council wards in England, and places like Jesmond and south Gosforth which are among the most affluent. Some 12 out of 26 wards in Newcastle are in this most deprived five per cent band.