HART had the lowest cancer mortality rate of all local authority areas last year, according to recently published figures.

The finding was part of a bundle of information released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), which runs the database of NHS records.

The report found that Hart had the lowest cancer mortality rate for under-75s in 2013, with 94.7 deaths per 100,000 population.

West Oxfordshire came second with 94.8 deaths. The average mortality rate is 142 per 100,000 residents.

The highest risk area was Salford, in Greater Manchester, with 201 deaths per 100,000 people.

The death rate from cancer in this age group fell by 14.7 per cent across England between 2003 and 2013. In Hart, it fell by 27 per cent.

HSCIC chairman Kingsley Manning said: “As the report shows, cancer kills more people under 75 than any other cause, and so most of us will have been touched in some way by this.

“So many people will take a keen interest in these statistics and the story they tell about the overall drop across the country and the different pictures in different areas.”

Rising obesity levels have been blamed for those areas with a higher rate of risk of getting cancer.

Tom Stansfield, from Cancer Research UK, said: “Leading a healthy life isn’t a guarantee you won’t get cancer, but it can really