HEALTH officials have issued a vow to rid a North-East town of its unwanted reputation as the suicide capital of the country.

Darlington has an unenviable record for the number of people taking their lives.

Statistics show that 18 per 100,000 of the population commit suicide each year and, in the worst-affected part of the town -Northgate -the figure is 45 per 100,000.

The problem was recently the subject of a major conference organised by agencies in the town to raise awareness about mental health issues.

Called Prevention Not Loss, it featured a number of speakers and workshop sessions aimed at addressing the issue, and followed detailed research into the town's poor record.

Darlington Primary Care Trust's mental health improvement specialist, Vicky Waterson, said: "In the same way we can prevent heart disease by promoting healthy living, we should be trying to protect everyone's mental health so they never reach desperation point.

"We need to have an approach that tackles the wider determinants such as housing, employment, and environmental factors.

"By doing that we can try and head off the need for anti-depressants and counselling."

David Hall, the chairman of the Darlington branch of the Mind charity, told the conference: "Darlington is certainly the suicide capital of the North, if not the whole country.

"That gives us tremendous focus and a lot of work is being done to share experience and expertise."

Yorkshire Mind managing director Fiona McLelland said: "It is a huge public health issue and the leading cause of death among young men, who are much less likely to seek help, particularly the unskilled."

She said the NHS had been set a target to cut suicides by a fifth by next year.

Durham consultant psychiatrist Dr Keith Linsley said agencies were working together to improve communication and training, and target hotspots.