RESIDENTS in north Durham have been asked to take part in a health and lifestyle survey.

Health in Derwentside has improved over the past ten years, but there is still a gap between the health of the population of the district compared to the population of England and Wales.

The major causes of death in Derwentside are heart disease, stroke and cancer, which are related to people's lifestyles.

It is against this background that more than 18,000 people will be asked to take part in the survey.

Several organisations, including the Local Strategic Partnership, the district council, the primary care trust and the Stanley Green Corridor, are inviting a randomly selected group of people to take part.

The survey will ask people about their eating, smoking and drinking habits, and how much exercise they take. All the answers will be confidential.

Dr Anne Low, director of public health for Derwentside, said: "This survey is very important for the health of local people. We know that lifestyles have a major impact on health.

"For example, across County Durham and Tees Valley around 2,500 people die from causes attributable to smoking every year, accounting for 34 per cent of all deaths over the age of 35.

"We need to understand the lifestyle choices of people within Derwentside so that we can help people to improve their chances of living a long and healthy life.

"The information we collect will help us to shape programmes for improving hea*th, ensuring that help is targeted where it is most needed. It may also enable us to bid for extra resources."

The results of the survey will be published in July and will be shared with residents and partner organisations working to improve health services.