Slough residents are dying years earlier than their Windsor neighbours, life expectancy figures show.

It comes as a ten-year gap in healthy life expectancy has been described as "shocking" by a council leader who has pledged to make the inequality a "key focus" of his administration.

Data from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) suggests that healthy life expectancy at birth is currently 58.1 for males and 60.3 for females in Slough.

This represents a vast difference from the adjacent Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, where the same averages are 67.9 and 70.3 respectively.

Overall life expectancy figures paint a similar but slightly less stark picture, in which 2021 figures show stands at 76.3 for Slough males and 81.0 for females. The equivalent numbers in the Royal Borough are 80.7 and 84.4.

Slough council leader Dexter Smith said: “It is clear that significant health inequalities exist in Slough. It is shocking that Slough residents on average can expect to have 10 years lower healthy life expectancy than those who live in the Royal Borough - 58 years for a man, and 60 years for a woman.

“These figures are also below the south east average. This inequality has not happened overnight.”

Councillor Smith, who assumed the role of council leader following the Conservative victory in this year’s local elections, further noted that Slough has higher rate of low birth weights, higher prevalence of childhood obesity and lower proportion of physically active adults.

He added: “Tackling the root causes of these issues is a key focus of my administration, and we will work collaboratively with our partners to bring about positive outcomes in the long-term.”

Data cited in the Slough Borough Council Corporate Plan Insights section points to higher levels of deprivation than national averages.

Figures showed that 57.7 per cent of households in Slough are deprived in one or more dimension, compared to 51.6 per cent across England.

Slough Foodbank manager Laura Cole said: “It’s sad to see that a healthy life expectancy is lower in Slough than surrounding areas.

“There are many factors that input into this but healthy food and good nutrition along with being able to keep warm are critical to a healthy life.

“Quite simply, if you’re cold and not being fed it will make you ill and this will put pressure on NHS and other resources.”

She called for more targeted support for Slough households, including on fuel and food poverty, with Slough Foodbank having delivered 9,322 food parcels last year alone.

Ms Cole added: “There shouldn’t be a need for foodbanks which is why we’re supporting the national campaign to ‘guarantee our essentials’ and that, at a minimum, Universal Credit should protect people from going without essentials such as food, household bills or travel costs.”