THOUSANDS of excess winter deaths have occurred in East Lancashire in the last quarter of a century, new figures have revealed.

Between 1991/92 and 2016/17, there have been 7,440 excess winter deaths in the area’s six boroughs, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

Excess winter deaths are defined as the difference between the number of deaths in the winter months (December to March) compared with the previous (August to November) and following (April to July) three months.

Blackburn with Darwen has had the highest number of excess winter deaths at 1,830, followed by Burnley with 1,480, Pendle with 1,160, Hyndburn with 1,040, Rossendale with 1,000 and Ribble Valley with 930.

And there has been an increase in the number of excess winter deaths in East Lancashire in the last year.

In 2015/16, there were 230 such deaths compared to 360 in 2016/17.

Nationally, there were around 50,100 excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2017-18 - the highest since the winter of 1975/76.

The increase in excess winter deaths is thought to be down to the flu, the effectiveness of the flu vaccine and the particularly cold weather seen last winter.

Nick Stripe, head of health analysis and life events at the ONS, said: “The number of excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2017-2018 was the highest recorded since the winter of 1975-1976.

“However, peaks like these are not unusual – we have seen more than eight peaks during the last 40 years.

“It is likely that last winter’s increase was due to the predominant strain of flu, the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine and below-average winter temperatures.”