Exploring the UK's Life Expectancy Crisis: Where Toxic Air and Addiction Take Their Toll

AS noisy pigeons circle nearby, a ramshackle mobility scooter trundles along a street pockmarked with bin bags left out for charity shops.

In this struggling town centre, life expectancy figures rank lower than anywhere else in the UK, with tormented residents claiming that “as jobless boozers turn to drink and drugs.

A decorated mobility scooter travels past a sparse charity shop with bin bags outsideCredit: NNP Stockton-on-Tees has the lowest life expectancy rate in the countryCredit: NNP Melanie Copeland says the low life expectancy here is ‘probably because of all the pollution’Credit: NNP Locals say the area is dealing with a hangover of pollution from the old ICI chemical worksCredit: Alamy

In Stockton town centre, on Teesside, men can expect to die at just 67 years old, and women at 71.

The figures are outrageously low when compared to nearby Ingleby Barwick, where males live to an average of 84, and females to 91.

Meanwhile, in a small pocket just north of the town’s high street, a staggering 67 per cent are economically inactive, with locals believing it is bad for your to be out of work.

But they also tell us the town’s industrial past has had a detrimental impact on life expectancy, and say the area is dealing with a hangover of from the old ICI chemical works, which shut down in 2008.

MOT tester Alf Dumain, 75, was shocked when we told him he’d already lived eight years longer than the average man from Stockton.

He believes unemployment in the area and a reliance on are causing people to die early.

He said: “Thirty or 40 years ago, I could understand it, when you had the likes of ICI and the steelworks, polluting the environment.

“But things have changed, and I find these figures difficult to believe.

“Ingelby Barwick has a bigger population than Stockton town centre, so that could be one of the reasons there is such a significant difference. But they are also a bit more upmarket there.

“I grew up in Stockton town centre and have lived here for around 25 per cent of my life.

“I am shocked to hear these statistics, but there is a small percentage who are not leading healthy lives. You just have to look around you.

“The people who live in the blocks of flats in the town centre are not healthy. There is a lot of poverty.

“There are more on benefits than there are working. If you have a job, you go to work and you are keeping more active.

“Benefits are killing people. It’s not doing people any good to be sat around all day, without a job. It’s too easy not to work.

“I honestly believe the benefits system is contributing to the low life expectancy. If I was in government, I would do more to get people back into work.”

‘Sky black with chemicals’

The town was once a thriving industrial centre, with the world’s first passenger railway launched between Stockton and Darlington in 1825.

The ICI chemical works, which produced fertiliser, plastics and synthetic ammonia for explosives, employed as many as 20,000 workers in the 1970s.

It was a huge blow to the area when it shut for good in the 2000s, followed by SSI steelworks in nearby Redcar, in 2015.

Retired butcher Jean Ward, 77, points at her husband Raymond, who is puffing on a cigarette, and says: “He’s 78, so he’s not doing too bad.”

Jean tells us: “We used to have steelworks and ICI. I suffer from osteoarthritis and my old doctor told me that if I lived elsewhere in the country, I would be a lot more healthy.

Benefits are killing people. It’s not doing people any good to be sat around all day, without a job

Alf Dumain

“He said, if you lived in , or down south, it would be different.

“When you go away on holiday, and then come back to Stockton, you can see the difference.

“You have sunshine, and it’s beautiful. It’s always overcast here.

“People in Stockton don’t shop at M&S and , they can’t afford it.

“They shop at . You only have so much to live on. The food is healthier in the more expensive shops.

“Things have changed so much. On the high street, all of the shops have shut.

“Stockton Market used to stretch all the way up to the church, on both sides of the road, it was massive. It’s tiny now.”

A man dozing off on a bench in Stockton Raymond Ward and Jean Ward say they are not surprised at the life expectancy figuresCredit: NNP

Raymond, a retired steelworker, added: “In the 60s and 70s, between 6.30pm and 8.30pm, the sky would be black with chemicals from ICI.

“I am not surprised life expectancy is so low.

“Most of the people we know, who worked at ICI, got cancer. My dad and brother worked there and died of .

“I believe that was from breathing in the chemicals. The air used to be terrible on a night-time.

“ICI would take anyone on and it kept this area going work-wise.

“It’s not like that now, and there is a lot of unemployment. People don’t have as much money as they used to, and I think that is also contributing to the lower life expectancy.

“Both my granddaughters have degrees, but neither of them can get jobs.”

Cigarettes and alcohol

Robert Boyle sits on his mobility scooter outside the pubCredit: NNP Stockton’s businesses have suffered in recent years say residentsCredit: NNP

Melanie Copeland, 39, is homeless.

She said: “The low life expectancy here is probably because of all the pollution. It’s all the s*** from the chimneys. I think that is making people ill.

“But I am surprised by the figures, and I can’t explain them.

“There are a lot of takeaway and places and that won’t help.”

In Stockton as a whole, 72 per cent of the adult population are either overweight or obese, compared to 62 per cent across .

Vape shops, takeaways, and empty premises line the wide high street, which is the broadest in the UK.

Two of my brothers were in their 60s, one was about 55 and the other one 40, when they died

Robert Boyle

But there is a gaping hole where The Castlegate Shopping Centre used to stand before it was demolished in 2023.

An ambitious £36million project is underway to build a waterfront park in its place, which will connect the high street to the River Tees. The scheme promises to transform the town centre when it is finally completed, but there is little sign of that just yet.

Robert Boyle sits on his mobility scooter outside the Plaza pub smoking a cigarette as he says sadly: “I have four younger brothers who have died. Lots of my friends have died.

“I don’t know if I am shocked, it depends what night of the week you go out on.”

Many of the shops in the area have shut downCredit: NNP Jason Rochford has spent time in prison, but now works at the Food Warehouse in StocktonCredit: NNP

The retired boat skipper, 75, adds: “On a Thursday, there are a lot of young people in the clubs. But people who go out in the afternoons tend to be upwards of 60.

“They could be dying so young because they are eating and . It could be the drinking, though the drinking might be keeping me alive.

“Two of my brothers were in their 60s, one was about 55 and the other one 40, when they died. He just dropped down dead of a brain haemorrhage.

“The way kids are going now, they are all on these weird vapes.

“I know three people recently, they didn’t smoke at all, but when the vapes came out, with raspberry and strawberry flavours, they started.

“I think vapes are worse than cigarettes. I have been smoking for more than 60 years, since I was 15. I started smoking at school.”

Poverty and cheap food

Jason Rochford, 53, has spent time in prison, but now works at the Food Warehouse in Stockton.

He told us: “The life expectancy is low here because of poverty, and people buying cheap food.

“It’s poverty, drink, drugs and smoking.

“Where I came from, your mam and dad would drink every night. There are a lot of drugs.

“I am 53, that means I haven’t got long, before I will be dead.

I think people are having kids to just to get benefits

Jason Rochford

“My granddad packed in smoking at 72 and he died at 91. Ingleby Barwick hasn’t been there that long. It’s a newer estate.

“The people there will be younger.

“Stockton is an old market town. There’s an older population here.

“There are a lot of drugs, and it’s the hard stuff as well. Heroin and crack. That’s why people are dying young.

“I think a lot of people around here are lazy, they don’t want jobs. All they want to do is have kids. The more kids they have, they more money they get, and they just sit in the house.

“I think people are having kids to just to get benefits.

“They are sitting at home all day, living off benefits, taking drugs.

“It doesn’t shock me that much, but things do seem to be getting worse.”

Health struggles

Dadar Saber Faqye is unemployed due to his healthCredit: NNP Locals say many have health problemsCredit: NNP

Dadar Saber Faqye, 40, is unemployed due to his health.

He said: “Stockton is very nice and very friendly. I am shocked people die so young here.

“I have kidney problems. I am waiting for a kidney transplant, but many people are. The is very slow. I have been waiting three years.

“I think part of the reason it’s so low might be problems with the NHS. Also, there are lots of fast food places.

There are a lot of young people who hang around the fountain, and if they are homeless, they have no hope left

Lynn Ford

“A lot of kids who are 15 years old, they sell drugs.

“This is very bad for children. The police force needs to be stronger. I have two kids, one 11 months and the other nine-years-old. I am scared for them.

“I am on sickness benefits. I want to work. The money I get is not enough for my two sons.

“It’s difficult to have a healthy lifestyle because of the money situation.”

Mixed fortunes

Lynn Ford, 74, is a retired carer who says two separate fortune tellers have told her she is going to live to 97.

She added: “I don’t know why life expectancy is so low here. Maybe it’s the lifestyle. A lot of people drink and there is a lot of unemployment.

“Drugs and drink must have something to do with it. And if you have a job you are active every day.

“I retired when I was 65. I brought three kids up on my own, I never stopped. I have tried to live a healthy lifestyle. Maybe keeping your body active helps, I don’t know.

“Drugs and alcohol have taken over.

“There are a lot of young people who hang around the fountain, and if they are homeless, they have no hope left. If they can get hold of a drink, it takes the pain away.

“There isn’t enough help. The Government is crap. I would like to see more organisations people can go to for support.

“The world has changed drastically, and I don’t think it is for the better.”

Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County DurhamCredit: NNP

Councillor Lisa Evans, leader of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, said: “Addressing low life expectancy and health inequalities are huge priorities. There is still work to be done but we are making good progress.

“We’re working with our partner agencies to make sure all residents enjoy a healthy and happy life, and we have a bold plan which underpins this.

“Attracting investment and creating jobs is also a key focus to increase opportunity and lift families out of poverty.”

She added: “Ultimately Stockton-on-Tees is a diverse borough, where affluent areas sit alongside places of deprivation. We are aware of the challenges we face and are not complacent. We are working hard to narrow the gap, put our communities first and ensure no one is left behind.”