Thousands of lives in the region need to be saved from heart disease by matching death rates in the South, a report revealed today.

And experts claim there is not enough specialised treatment for the local population, which is traditionally classed as high risk.

A report from the Northern and Yorkshire Public Health Observatory found that around 68 men under 65 per 100,000 in the region die from Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) compared to 47 in the South East. The figures for women under 65 in the two areas are 20 and 11 respectively.

Bradford Health Authority is lagging further behind with 78 deaths per 100,000 - second only to Gateshead and South Tyneside Health Authority in the regional tables.

Bradford also has the highest death rate from heart attacks in the region, whereas its neighbour North Yorkshire has the lowest.

There are more than 14,000 deaths from heart disease in the Northern and Yorkshire region each year.

The Observatory has calculated that if regional death rates from CHD matched those in the South East, an estimated 8,000 lives would be saved.

Report author and Observatory director Dr John Wilkinson said progress had been made, but there was still a long way to go.

"Obviously health authorities and Primary Care Trusts are doing quite a lot to address the balance, but this range has still got something to do with provision," he said.

"We know this is going on regionally and nationally - we need more cardiologists and surgeons, etc to actually begin to bite at the problem.

"We need to keep people's eyes on this issue - it's not going to go away."

Poor health was not just down to the NHS, but social factors such as employment and housing, he added.

"This downward trend in heart disease needs to continue. While some of this is being undertaken by the NHS, the greatest benefits will arise if new and exciting partnerships can be utilised by the NHS and other organisations, particularly those concerned with local and regional government, in strategies to improve health."

The annual, regional cost of the killer to the NHS is now estimated at around £160 million.