THE MP of an area which has been revealed to have the lowest life-expectancy in the UK has accused to the Government of "perversity" in the way it distributes health funding.

Easington MP Grahame Morris issued a call for an NHS funding formula rethink after researchers concluded that the average person living in the Seaham, Sunderland and Peterlee area died aged 87.5 years, while less than 50 miles away in Ripon, Harrogate and Lower Wensleydale, residents live for an average of another two years.

The findings of the study by financial advisors Willis Towers Watson puts those with an SR postcode last out of 121 postal districts, while those in the Durham and Darlington areas, where average life expectancy is 87.9 years, both also featured in the lowest ten areas.

Those in the York postal area, which includes Thirsk and Whitby, were placed 40th on the table, and the only postal area outside the South-East to feature in the top ten was the Harrogate area, which includes Ripon, Masham and West Tanfield.

The study showed while the average woman in the SR postal area could expect to outlive men in the area by almost three-and-a-half years, both genders in the area were individually ranked as the lowest life expectancy in the country.

Mr Morris, whose Murton Colliery miner father died in his mid-50s, said the study confirmed the link between life expectancy and deprivation that has been highlighted through a series of reports in recent years.

He said: "It is perverse that the Government appears to be gerrymandering the NHS funding formula to give more money to those areas where people live the longest. All boats move when the tides come in, but the areas that would see the biggest difference from extra investment is not getting it.

"At a time when the contrasts are so stark it seems incredible that the Government is cutting back not just on NHS healthcare, but that provided by local authorities."

Willis Towers Watson said it studied benefit pension schemes which have nearly eight million retired members and 800,000 deaths between them, alongside predictive characteristics influencing longevity, for example size of pension and prevalence of smoking.

Stephen Caine, senior mortality consultant at the firm, said: “There are distinct differences in life expectancy in different areas of the country, but in reality it is not the geography itself that is important, it’s the economic and lifestyle factors that are indicative of residents in different areas of the country.

“Postcodes, when used in tandem with other factors, are a powerful predictor of life expectancy and are used by many areas of the financial services industry.”