Inside England's "suicide capital" where record numbers are taking their own lives

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Inside England’s “suicide capital” where record numbers are taking their own lives

St Helens has the highest rate of suicide in the country and local people say there is a sense of decline across the proud Merseyside town

Newsroom September 11 04:19

But St Helens has long been in the midst of a mental health crisis and has now been dubbed the ‘suicide capital’ of England.

Figures obtained by Mirror Online for our Town 2020 series reveal it has the highest rate of suicide in the country with 17.9 deaths per every 100,000 people.

Locals say the high rates are due to a lack of emergency mental health services as well as general aura of “hopelessness” in the town.

The office of Labour MP Marie Rimmer sees constituents struggling with their mental health on a regular basis.

One man was so distressed that he said he “felt like throwing petrol on himself and setting himself on fire”.

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Inside England’s “suicide capital” where record numbers are taking their own lives

St Helens has the highest rate of suicide in the country and local people say there is a sense of decline across the proud Merseyside town

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