NORTHERNERS are among the most at risk of suffering from lung cancer in the country, according to new figures.

Eighty-five men out of a population of 100,000 have lung cancer in the North, along with 44 women, compared with the national average of 72 men and 35 women per 100,000.

The figures are released as Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Quit, No Smoking Day and Ash team up for Lung Cancer Awareness Month, during January.

It is the first time the charities have joined forces to highlight lung cancer issues, also highlighting the great north-south divide in smoking patterns.

Top of the men's lung cancer cases table is Scotland, with 101 men diagnosed with lung cancer per 100,000 of population. The area with the lowest level is the South and West of England, with 55 cases per 100,000.

The charities believe the levels are higher in the North because of increased smoking in deprived communities and among manual workers.

Professor Martin Jarvis, assistant director of the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Unit, says: "More people in the south work in 'white collar' industries, which generally have lower levels of smoking. The North has a higher level of deprivation, but also a higher level of manual workers.

"Studies have shown that manual workers are twice as likely to smoke as people working in an office. We can see these smoking patterns mirrored in the number of lung cancer cases."