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The traditional rivalry between Edinburgh and Glasgow has taken a sombre turn with Glasgow University researchers' discovery that Glaswegians have a lower life expectancy than inhabitants of the capital.

Graham Watt of Glasgow's department of general practice and Russell Ecob of its Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit found that although life expectancy has risen in both cities, the gap between them has grown since the late 1970s.

Life expectancy is now five years shorter for men in Glasgow, and two and a half years shorter for women.

Professor Watt said the most obvious reason for the gap was that 66 per cent of Glaswegian postcode sectors were in areas of severe deprivation, compared with 7 per cent in Edinburgh.