Brighton and Hove has been praised for efforts to shake off its title as Britain's drugs-death capital.

The Government's principal medical adviser singled out the city's strategy for tackling drug fatalities in his annual report on the state of the nation's health.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said although the number remains high, action at a grassroots level was showing early signs of success.

In his report, published today, he acknowledged the huge amount of work carried out by health workers, police, treatment centres, charities and other agencies in the past 12 months.

Latest figures show the city has four times the national average of drug-related deaths, with 12 per 100,000 people - about 35 a year within the city area. Although still high, it is continuing a downward trend from 13.7 per 100,000 in 2001. This is still much higher than bigger cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and inner-city London.

Sir Liam said new systems ensuring addicts were swiftly directed to appropriate treatment had cut the average waiting times to below the Government targets.

He said a total of 506 people had entered treatment in 2003/4, up 12 per cent on the previous year and way in excess of Home Office targets.

He was impressed by training advice given to users on how to deal with overdoses and praised the city's Drug and Alcohol Action Team for its ambulance rapid response scheme launched this year.

Jenny Bennett, chairwoman of the drug-related deaths steering group in Brighton and Hove, said: "There has been constant work in this area and it is good to see the Chief Medical Officer has recognised progress we have made.

"Users are now receiving treatment quicker. We have carried out more overdose training with drug users in the area, including courses at Lewes prison where there is a new nursing post and detox wing."

Mike Gill, regional director of public health in the South-East, said: "Drug deaths in Brighton and Hove are a major concern and the report highlights the huge effort to combat the problem."

It is believed there are about 2,300 injecting drug users in Brighton and Hove.