BLAENAU Gwent has the second highest level of long-term illness in Wales.

More than one in five members of the workforce - 22.1%, or 9,100 - are claiming incapacity benefits for sickness or disability.

The figure is only beaten by Merthyr Tydfil, where 22.6%, or 7,600, of those of working age are out of work because of ill-health.

Monmouthshire had the healthiest workforce, with just 7.5% (3,800), while Newport scored 12.4% (10,300), Torfaen, 15.1% (15,100) and Caerphilly, 17.4% (18,000).

Blaenau Gwent MP Llew Smith said: "These figures don't surprise me at all. For a long period we've been near the top of the lists on illnesses ranging from heart and respiratory diseases to lung cancers. It's mental illnesses besides physical.

"It's partly a result of our industrial past in coal and steel. There's a clear link between deprivation and health issues.

"This is nothing to do with a culture of benefits. We cannot tackle our industrial past, but one way to deal with it is to tackle deprivation."

And Peter Law, AM, said: "This has come about because of the poverty that has existed here for some time, with the legacy of collieries and heavy industry.

"We've got to get people to be more aware of the situation. Education is vital.

"The last colliery closed ten to 12 years ago and many of the workers are hitting their sixties. That's when all the problems with emphysema and bronchitis start."