Gap in salaries of men and women in Horsham district

West Sussex County Council’s annual West Sussex Life report shows that men living in the Horsham district earn an average of £706 a week, while women pocket £449.

On average, women earn less per week than men in every district in the county, but the difference is less stark in every other district in West Sussex.

In contrast, in the Chichester district men take home just £9 more per week than women, on average.

However, Horsham residents boast the highest average salary in West Sussex, of £32,562.

This is possibly due to many residents commuting from Horsham to London for higher paid jobs, the report states.

The report also notes that singletons living in Horsham are in hard luck, as the percentage of unattached people living in Horsham is lower than in any other district in West Sussex.

Figures published by the county council state that just 26.1 per cent of Horsham district residents aged 16 or over are single - though a further 11 per cent are divorced or separated.

This is the lowest proportion in the county. More than a third of Crawley residents are single, echoing the national figure of 34.6 per cent.

On the other hand, 55.3 per cent of people living in Horsham are married - the district has the highest proportion of married people within the county, and the figure is almost ten per cent over the national average.

The report also reveals an increase in the number of alcohol related hospital admissions among residents living in the Horsham district.

For every 100,000 people living in the district, 1,360 were admitted to hospital due to alcohol consumption in 2012-13.

This represents a 30 per cent rise since 2008-09, the second largest increase in percentage in that time among districts, behind only Crawley.

Horsham is, however, sexually healthy. Figures from 2013 show that per 100,000 people, Horsham has 118.8 residents with chlamydia and 14.4 residents with gonorrhoea.

Each is the lowest figure among districts in West Sussex, and compare favourably to national figures of 390.2 and 54.8.