HEALTH officials will attend a major conference aimed at tackling Darlington's high rate of suicides.

The event, at Morton Park, next Friday, is expected to attract health professionals, social services represen-tatives, the voluntary sector and members of the public.

Organisers said they would be looking at the issue of suicide from both a local and national perspective.

The Darlington Mind charity is hosting the conference - which runs from 9.30am to 3pm - with support from the town's primary care trust and social services.

There will be a series of workshops and keynote speeches from experts, including Dr David Hall, the chairman of Darlington Mind, and the charity's national chief executive, Richard Brook.

The event is linked to World Mental Health Day on Sunday. The primary care trust's health improvement specialist, Vicky Waterson, said: "Suicide is one of the most important public health issues at the moment.

"The conference is to explain the national picture and what people can do locally to contribute to the prevention of suicide."

Figures published earlier this year showed that 18 people a year took their own lives in Darlington - one of the worst rates in the North-East, and higher than the national average of ten per 100,000 of the population.

A suicide prevention taskforce was also recently set up to examine 53 cases over the past three years.

It identified social circumstances surrounding victims to see what may have driven them to take their own lives. The taskforce's final report called for greater promotion of mental health issues.