DRUG-RELATED deaths have dropped slightly in Bradford over the last three years, despite a national rise in fatalities over the period.

New figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) provide local data for drug-related deaths in three-year periods. Between 2015 and 2017, 99 drug poisoning fatalities were registered in Bradford, at a rate of 6.6 in every 100,000 people. Of those deaths, 69 were men and 30 were women.

Between 2012 and 2014, 105 drug-related deaths were recorded in Bradford.

Across England and Wales, 3,756 deaths involving legal and illegal drugs were recorded in 2017. It represents a small increase on 2016, and is the highest total since comparable records began in 1993.

ONS health analysis statistician Ellie Osborn said: “Despite deaths from most opiates declining or remaining steady, deaths from fentanyl continued to rise, as did cocaine deaths, which increased for the sixth consecutive year.”

Of the 99 drug poisoning deaths in Bradford between 2015 and 2017, 82% were registered as being down to misuse, meaning they involved illegal drugs or were as a result of drug abuse or dependence.

Karen Tyrell, executive director of alcohol and drug charity Addaction, said: “The truth is that most drug-related deaths are preventable.”