Croydon has the most people suffering from high blood pressure in south London, followed by Bromley, figures show.

The numbers for each borough have been released to highlight Know Your Numbers! week from September 18 to 24 which encourages people to get their blood pressure checked for free.

Volunteers at ‘pressure stations’ - find your nearest place here - will provide information and advice on simple steps to keep blood pressure under control and will measure your blood pressure accurately.

This comes as the Blood Pressure UK charity warns that ignoring health warnings, particularly about poor diet and excess salt intake, is leading more young people to develop hypertension (also known as high blood pressure) – putting them at risk of having an early stroke.

The proportion of strokes in working-age people has increased despite an overall drop in the number of strokes.

With unhealthy lifestyles and poor diet contributing to more people in their 30s, 40s and 50s being diagnosed with hypertension, around one in three people in the UK are now living with high blood pressure - the single biggest cause of death – with 6.5 million people still remaining undiagnosed.

Between 2008 and 2016, around five per cent of all deaths in working-age men were due to stroke while for women the figure was two per cent.

In September alone, almost 9,000 people in the UK will die from a heart attack or stroke, with a quarter of these under 75, Blood Pressure UK says.

Key risk factors for developing high blood pressure are eating too much salt, not enough fruit and vegetables, being overweight and not enough exercise.

Professor Graham MacGregor, the charity’s chairman, said: “High blood pressure kills thousands of people every year in the UK, and is almost entirely preventable.

“By lowering the population’s blood pressure even a small amount, we could save the NHS over £1billion every year.

“As an individual having your blood pressure checked is the most important step that you can take to reduce your risk of stroke, heart attack or heart failure.”

This is how many people in each south London borough are estimated to have hypertension:

Bexley 55,800

Bromley 82,200

Croydon 90,300

Greenwich 59,300

Kingston 38,600

Lambeth 76,000

Lewisham 66,000

Merton 45,200

Richmond 47,500

Southwark 67,400

Sutton 45,100

Wandsworth 70,200