THE life expectancy divide between Britain’s more prosperous and deprived areas has widened to as much as 13 years, official figures revealed.

Though people across the country are in general living longer, statistics show children born in the South of England have a longer life ahead of them than those brought up in Scotland and the North.

A boy from London’s affluent Kensington and Chelsea can now expect to survive 13.5 years longer than his counterpart in Glasgow city.

In Kirklees, men can expect to live to 77 and women to 81.3.

Other areas in West Yorkshire have similar figures; Calderdale - men 77, women 81.5; Bradford - men 76.6, women 80.8; Leeds - men 77, women 82.8 and Wakefield - men 77, women 81.

The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), give a snapshot of lifespans in every local area across Britain.

They show the average life expectancy at birth now stands at 78.2 years for men and 82.3 years for women.

Statistically, the English have a longer future ahead of them than those living in the rest of the UK – peaking at 78.6 for men and 82.6 for women.

The Scottish have the lowest life expectancy, reaching the average age of 75.8 years for men and 80.4 years for women.

Meanwhile, male life expectancy was shown to be highest in the South East (79.7 years), East (79.6 years) and South West (79.5 years) and for females, the South East and South West (83.5 years), London (83.3 years) and the East (83.2 years) offered the most favourable life spans.

            MEN WOMEN

Barnsley 76.8 80.4

Doncaster 76.8 81.4

Rotherham 77.1 81.0

Sheffield 78.1 81.8

Bradford 76.6 80.8

Calderdale 77.1 81.5

Kirklees 77.0 81.3

Leeds 77.9 82.2

Wakefield 77.0 81.1

YORKSHIRE 77.7 81.8

Kensington /Chelsea 85.1 89.8

Glasgow 71.6 78.0