People live longest in the South

The Radio Solent area has one of the oldest populations in the UK

People in The Radio Solent area live longer than in any other part of the UK, according to research for the BBC.

It showed the area covering Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Dorset had the lowest mortality rate of all BBC local radio areas.

The report, Changing UK, investigated how life in the UK has changed over the past 40 years.

It also revealed the South TV region had the UK's lowest proportion of people living on the breadline (20.8%).

There are a great number of asset rich and income poor people in the South Chris Perry, Age Concern

The research was carried out by a team from The University of Sheffield using Census data and information from a number of other sources.

Chris Perry, director of Age Concern Hampshire, said the findings could be explained by, "a correlation between income and life expectancy and demand upon the NHS".

"Those people able to retire to the South are likely to be those from the higher income brackets," he said.

"Britain has the highest winter cold related death rate in Europe, higher than the Scandinavian countries, and the climate is warmer in the South than elsewhere."

The South has more people who are "asset wealthy" (38%) than any other BBC TV region - largely due to the fact it has the second highest average house prices after London, according to the study.

And the Radio Solent area has a comparatively high 22% of the population who are pensioners.

But the South bucked a trend that showed there was now a growing sense of anomie (a feeling of not belonging) across the UK than at any time since the 1960s.

Although more than a quarter of people (27.1%) in the South TV region in 2001 were classified as not having a strong sense of community, the report found the rate was actually lower there than in 1991.

Professor Danny Dorling, who led the research, said the UK as a whole was more polarised than ever.

The South region's population has increased by 15% since 1981, the fourth highest rise over that period, according to the study.