PEOPLE living in Salisbury are more likely than anyone else in the county to spark up a cigarette and be admitted to hospital for booze-related injuries, a health survey has revealed.

The Salisbury community area also has the highest percentage of the population claiming disability allowance, the worst record in dental health in children and people are more likely to die younger.

The figures have been published in an NHS Wiltshire survey, which has been produced in collaboration with the police and the Wiltshire Council to help plan the right services for people in the county.

City councillor Jeremy Nettle, who has described the figures as alarming, is urging agencies to work together to tackle the problems and improve the situation.

“This is just Salisbury within Wiltshire, and I think that is the important bit for me,” he said.

“I think the alarming one was the number of admissions into A&E due to alcohol. We know that has been a problem.”

The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment assessed the 20 community areas in the county and ranked Salisbury the worst area for the number of smokers, with 25 per cent of people smoking.

Between May 2008 and April 2009, there were 1,914 people admitted to hospital for injuries relating to alcohol in Salisbury, with Tidworth rated second worst and Amesbury third.

According to an Experian Target Group survey, when it came to buying fruit, 9.3 per cent of people in Salisbury did not spend £2 on fruit the previous week, with the Wiltshire average at 6.5 per cent.

Salisbury was also the worst area for admissions to hospital for asthma and coronary heart disease, was third from bottom for cases of domestic violence, just above Tidworth, and was second from bottom for life expectancy in men.

The St Martin area of Salisbury was rated as the most deprived area, rating it the 5,113th most deprived area in England out of 32,482.

Commenting on this figure, which was for 2007, Cllr Nettle said this has since improved. “It goes to show that there could be improvements if we actually tackle these things,” he added.

“Just actually having the mindset to say ‘actually, we are together on this – this is our city’