Slough has the highest premature death rate for heart and circulatory diseases in the South East of England, according to new figures released by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The figures show around 90 people die from conditions including heart attack and stroke in Slough each year before they reach their 75th birthday.

A new report has shown an upward trend in deaths since 2014, with 42,384 people dying from heart and circulatory conditions in the UK before the age of 75 in 2017, compared to 41,042 three years earlier.

The latest premature death rate for Slough is 109 people per 100,000 – a rate the BHF says is much higher than the England average of 74 per 100,000.

Across the South East of England there are around 4,600 premature deaths from these conditions each year, the charity says.

The figures have been released as the charity launches its new strategy, which warns against complacency, and sets ambitions for the UK to halve premature death and disability from stroke, and increase heart attack survival to 90 per cent by 2030.

The heart charity also warns that uncontrolled and undiagnosed risk factors and stark inequalities could be leading to avoidable deaths in younger people.

The report shows that there could be as many as 500,000 people living with undiagnosed high blood pressure in the South East of England, and that 2.1 million adults in the region (29 per cent) are classed as obese.

Almost 470,000 adults have been diagnosed with diabetes in the region, although thousands more are believed to be living with the condition undiagnosed.

Simon Gillespie, chief executive at the British Heart Foundation, said: “In the UK we’ve made phenomenal progress in reducing the number of people who die of a heart attack or stroke.

“But we’re seeing more people die each year from heart and circulatory diseases in the UK before they reach their 75th birthday. We are deeply concerned by this reversal.

“Heart and circulatory diseases remain a leading cause of death in the UK, with millions at risk because of conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes.

“We need to work in partnership with governments, the NHS and medical research community to increase research investment and accelerate innovative approaches to diagnose and support the millions of people at risk of a heart attack or stroke.

“Only through the continued commitment of our researchers, the public’s generous support, and determination from governments can we ‘shift the dial’ and imagine a 2030 where fewer people live with the fear of heart and circulatory disease.”