In the centre of Stockton-on-Tees, the life expectancy for men is 64 – the same as Ethiopia.
Less than five miles away, in Billingham, men can expect to live to 85 while women can expect to reach 90.
The reason, doctors say, is simple – the rich live long and the poor die young.
Rob Hill explained that he was relatively healthy before he became a taxi driver, but the pressures of the job led to him picking up junk food on a regular basis
Rob Hill, a 46-year-old from Stockton, is preparing for his death. He told BBC Panorama he has emphysema, lymphedema and type 2 diabetes
Rob Hill, a 46-year-old from Stockton, is preparing for his death. He told BBC Panorama he has emphysema, lymphedema and type 2 diabetes.
A lifetime of bad food and regular cigarettes means he will die 23 years younger than the UK national life expectancy age of 79 for men. For women it is 82.
The father-of-eight told Panorama: ‘I’ve made a few bad choices. Smoking – worst choice I could have ever made in my life.’
He was given six months to live two years ago and requires a machine to help him breathe.
According to Public Health England, Stockton has the biggest gap in healthy and unhealthy life expectancy.
Rob added: ‘Seeing my kids cry, that’s horrible. It’s not nice. Seeing them sitting there crying and listening to my children turn around and say, ‘My dad is going to die soon and I am not going to have him any more’.’
He explained that he was relatively healthy before he became a taxi driver, but the pressures of the job led to him picking up junk food on a regular basis.
Now he discusses his impending cremation with his funeral planner while his young children speak about their father’s death.
Harvey, eight, said: ‘Dad is the best. He’s not gone yet… but no-one ever knows when he’s going to be gone.’
But in better-off areas surrounding the County Durham town – places like Yarm, Billingham West and Hartburn – people can expect to live two decades longer than in central Stockton.
In the country as a whole, a boy born in a rich area of England can expect to live about eight and a half years longer than a boy born in a poor area.
Dr David Hodges, a Stockton GP, said it is a ‘disgrace’.
Rob added: ‘Seeing my kids cry, that’s horrible. It’s not nice. Seeing them sitting there crying and listening to my children turn around and say, ‘My dad is going to die soon and I am not going to have him any more”
The father-of-eight told Panorama: ‘I’ve made a few bad choices. Smoking – worst choice I could have ever made in my life’
‘We need to be fixing this,’ he told the BBC.
‘People have the right to get to retirement age healthy. I will accept chronic illnesses, starting in your 60s, I don’t accept as a society that we should be expecting people to be unwell in their 40s.’
The Panorama documentary also features people from Stockton whose lives have been destroyed by drugs.
A 31-year-old mother, Amy, said she has lost everything to crack cocaine.
She has been forced to give up her third child for adoption because of her addiction, while her other two live with her mother.
‘More than likely, I will die young,’ she explained. ‘I expect that, it’s just part and parcel of it all.’
Ingrid suffers from stress and anxiety because of her daughter’s addiction and the pressure of looking after her two children
A 31-year-old mother, Amy, said she has lost everything to crack cocaine. ‘More than likely, I will die young,’ she explained. ‘I expect that, it’s just part and parcel of it all’
She was kicked out of the family home by Ingrid, her 58-year-old mother.
Ingrid suffers from stress and anxiety because of her daughter’s addiction and the pressure of looking after her two children and thinks she will die young.
She is also heartbroken that she could not look after her third child.
High unemployment and a lack of services means someone in Stockton – which has a population of just over 100,000 – dies from drug use every month.
People in the poorer parts of the town are also more likely to kill themselves than in the wealthier parts.
Newcastle University’s Professor Clare Bambra – who studied health inequality in Stockton over five years – said the main reason for the inequality in health is income.
She said: ‘The poor are dying younger because they have less money in order to live a healthy life. They have more pressures on them, they have more insecurity and they have less control over their life.’
Panorama: Get Rich or Die Young airs on BBC One at 8.30pm tonight.