LIFE expectancy figures for Inverclyde are the second-worst in the UK, bleak new government statistics have revealed.

The latest study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the average life expectancy at birth from 2010-12 for men is 73.7 years and 79.9 for women. It means the area’s male population has the second worst outlook in the UK — just behind Glasgow on 72.6 years — with women faring only slightly better at 397th out of all 404 local authorities across the nation.

The grim ONS figures show men in Inverclyde are expected to live six years less than females.

In comparison, East Dorset tops the UK life expectancy table with men projected to live 82.9 years — nine more than males in Inverclyde.

The area with the highest female life expectancy is Purbeck, South West England, at 86.6 years — nearly seven years more than the district’s women.

Inverclyde life expectancy figures are consistently in the bottom 10 in the UK but the latest statistics show a glimmer of hope, as there is an upward trend and people here are living longer.

Retired Greenock GP Dr Mustafa Kapasi blames poor diet plus alcohol and drug use for the shameful life expectancy stats.

But he insists things have changed dramatically since he started working in Greenock in the 1970s.

The former doctor believes things are improving but admits it will take another generation before habits change completely.

Dr Kapasi, who is vice-chair of Inverclyde Community Health Care Partnership (CHCP), said: “If you look at life expectancy compared to when I first started in Greenock it has increased.

“So things are improving.

“But our lifestyle in Inverclyde is very bad, with a lot of drug addicts.

“Our eating habits are also very poor.

“We have to change not only our lifestyle but our thinking and culture.

“It will take another generation before we change habits — it will take a lot longer.” In the last decade, life expectancy in Inverclyde has increased by around four years for men and three years for women, and Dr Kapasi says there is cause for optimism about the future.

He said: “When I came to Inverclyde I was terrified I would die at 56 because that was the life expectancy.

“We are still lagging behind everybody else but it has changed by almost 20 years since I came to Greenock.

“The change from then to now is unrecognisable — Inverclyde has just changed so much.”