A new report has revealed an ‘alarming rise’ in the number of people dying before their time in the North.

The study by academics at the University of Manchester found there was a ‘North/South’ divide with 1.2m more early deaths - before the age of 75 - in the North than in the South from 1965 to 2015.

The research also number death rates among middle-aged adults has been rising since the mid-90s and is now at alarming levels, with 49% more deaths among 35-44 year olds and 29% more deaths among 25-34 year olds in the North in 2015.

The study used data from the Office of National Statistics on the whole English population from 1965 to 2015.

‘Five decades of death records tell a tale of two Englands - North and South, divided by resources and life expectancy – a profound inequality resistant to the public health interventions of successive governments,’ said lead researcher, Professor Iain Buchan.

‘A new approach is required, one that must address the economic and social factors that underpin early deaths, especially in younger populations, and one that focuses on rebalancing the wider economy to help drive investment in northern towns and cities,’ said lead researcher, he added.

‘The devolution of centralised powers may enable civic leaders to seed the economic growth to tackle this divide, but only if they are given the proportionate northern weighting of funds to do so.’

The chief executive of the Northern Health Science Alliance, Dr Hakim Yadi, said research conducted by IPPR North ‘demonstrates the Government invests much less in health research funding in the North of England than in the South, despite the huge need’.