North Somerset residents live among the longest lives in the UK.

Department of Health figures ahve revealed that the life expectancy of men and women here is now 79.7 years, nearly 18 months more than the UK average.

But it's not increasing as quickly as most regions, after rising by less than one per cent during the past six years.

We're currently ranked 115th out of 404 areas polled, but in 2004 the area was ranked inside the top 80.