Brighton and Hove has achieved the tragic distinction of being the drug-deaths capital of England and Wales.

Brighton and Hove had by far the highest drug-related death rate per head of population.

Figures showed the city had 32 deaths per 100,000 people. The next highest figure was for Blackpool, which had 13.9 deaths for every 100,000 people.

The figures, for the year 2000, came from a report on the number of specific drug-related deaths reported by coroners.

They also revealed the problem was getting worse. In 1999 the city's drug-death rate was 24 per 100,000 people.

The statistics were collated by the Department of Addictive Behaviour and Psychological Medicine at St George's Hospital Medical School in London.

There were 67 drug-related deaths in the city in 2000 compared with 50 in 1999.

Many of the agencies helping drug users in the city are co-ordinated by Addaction, the drug and alcohol advice counselling service.

A spokesman for the service said the number of people dying from drug-related abuse was far higher than the 67 investigated by the coroner.

Rebecca Findlay, of Addaction, said the Coroners Office only investigated people who died suddenly. Coroners did not usually investigate deaths of people in hospitals, hospices, residential homes, or whose death had been certified by a GP.

She identified three reasons why the death rate was so high in the city: Drug users were injecting into main arteries rather than veins, people with drug problems were afraid to ask for help because they were scared of the police and potential rescuers were not aware of the recovery position.

She said: "Clearly the number of drug-related deaths in Brighton and Hove is too high and that is why we are increasing our programme in the city."