SUICIDE rates have risen across Dorset, against the national trend.

Last year, there were 30 suicides in Bournemouth, seven more than in 2016, and 14 suicides in Poole, four more than in 2016.

The Dorset county area saw 41 suicides, which was the lowest number recorded since 2014.

However figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the suicide rate, calculated over a three year period, has risen across the county.

There were 75 suicides in Bournemouth between 2015 and 2017, a rate of 14.9 deaths per 100,000 people.

There were 35 suicides in Poole over the same period, a rate of 8.8 deaths per 100,000 people, and 130 suicides in the Dorset county area, or 11.5 deaths per 100,000 people.

The rates have risen in each case from the period of 2012 to 2014, when there were 10.1, 8.4 and 10.3 suicides per 100,000 people in each area respectively.

The overall UK rate was 10.1 suicides per 100,000 people in the UK, down from previous years.

Ruth Sutherland, chief executive of mental health charity Samaritans, said: "One death by suicide is still one too many.

"Suicide is complex and it's a problem of inequality. It affects the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in society, male and female, disproportionately.

"This is an urgent public health issue, not simply a health or mental health one."

Of 5,821 suicides registered last year 4,382 were men, a rate of 15.5 deaths per 100,000 men. However, the male suicide rate was at its lowest level on record in 2017.

The charity said efforts to reduce the stigma around male mental health may have contributed to the reduction, but men were still three times more likely to take their own lives than women.

Ms Sutherland said: "It's encouraging to see the reduction in male suicide.

"We believe that the focus of suicide prevention in recent years to tackle the higher rates in men has contributed to this.

"Added to this, reducing stigma around men's mental health and encouraging men to open up and ask for help when they are struggling has been beneficial."

The Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or via email at jo@samaritans.org