HC Deb 31 July 1975 vol 896 cc611-2W
Mr. Gow

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people have died in each of the last five years and in the first six months of the current year as a result of falling, voluntarily or involuntarily, from the cliffs in the area known as Beachy Head, near Eastbourne.

Mr. Meacher

The numbers of bodies found dead on the face or at the foot of Beachy Head cliffs were as follows:

1970 5
1971 9
1972 6
1973 13
1974 14
1975 (6 months) 7

Mr. Gow

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of deaths by suicide in the United Kingdom in each of the past five years and for the first six months of 1975.

Mr. Meacher

The numbers for the United Kingdom are as follows:

1970 4,397
1971 4,376
1972 4,238
1973 4,329
1974 4,328*
1975 No figures yet available.
* Provisional for Great Britain. The figure for Northern Ireland is not yet available.