A pledge to stop people in the North-East dying earlier than people in most of England is in trouble, the Government admitted yesterday.

A target to cut the life expectancy gap by ten per cent by the end of the decade will be missed on current trends, ministers said.

Of 11 "spearhead" local authority areas with low life expectancies in the region, only one - Derwentside - is on course to hit the ten per cent target.

In a further seven, the target is likely to be achieved for either men or for women, but not both, the Department of Health (DoH) said.

But in Easington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough the target will be missed for both sexes on current projections.

The worrying trends emerged as the DoH launched an interactive website tool to help health chiefs discover why they are falling short.

The website allows primary care trusts (PCTs) and family doctors to identify why the life expectancy gap is so large and so stubborn.

For example, in Hartlepool many more premature deaths - particularly among men - are caused by cancer, a likely legacy of high smoking rates.

In Middlesbrough, many men are dying young through "external causes", which include accidents and suicides.

Meanwhile, in Derwentside, circulatory diseases still account for significantly more early deaths among men.

Experts say that in areas successfully closing the life expectancy gap, family doctors are working hard to find and help people living unhealthy lifestyles.

In other areas, only some GP practices are showing the same determination to encourage smokers to quit, or to prescribe the cholest-erol-lowering statin drugs.

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: "Tackling health inequalities is a priority for the department of health and the NHS. Our task is to support local NHS and local authority planners, commissioners and frontline staff to deliver on those targets. This is an excellent example of giving staff the tools to do the job."

The target is for a ten per cent cut in the life expectancy gap between the 70 poorest areas, including those in the North-East, and the national average between 1997 and 2010.

The website focuses on the four killers - smoking, infant deaths, high blood pressure and heart disease - where improvements can be most easily identified.

Ministers admit that factors such as unemployment, poor education and bad housing are also important, but cannot so easily be measured.

Asked yesterday if the target would be hit, Ms Primarolo would say only: "I am reasonably confident."

The website can be found at www.lho.org.uk/ health_inequalities/health_inequalities_tool.asp