People in Oxfordshire are less likely to die from heart attacks because of healthier more affluent lifestyles, it was revealed today.

Figures released by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) show that west Oxfordshire has the lowest death rate from cardiac arrest than any where else in the UK. The charity's Morbidity Supplement 2001 also reveals south Oxfordshire and Oxford city have lower heart disease deaths than any other district.

Experts believe Oxfordshire's low numbers are due to the area's affluence and because people are often more articulate and responsible than in other, poorer parts of the UK. In west Oxfordshire, which covers towns including Witney and Burford, statistically only 90.5 men and 34 women in every 100,000 of the total population die from heart attacks each year.

South Oxfordshire, a district spanning from Abingdon to Henley, has 91 male and 35 female deaths in every 100,000 residents and in Oxford city, 117 men and 36 women die of heart attacks every year.

The numbers are a marked contrast to Glasgow, which has the highest death rate with 260 men and 99 women in every 100,000 dying from heart attacks every year.

BHF spokesman Gaynor Dewsnap said: "We tend to find that in better-off places the death rate is lower.

"People are more likely to survive heart attacks because they are more aware of their health, take medical advice, such as giving up smoking, and are more likely to be able to explain their symptoms better to their doctors."

The Morbidity Supplement, compiled by scientists at the Oxford Institute of Health Sciences, in Headington, was published to make people aware of the dangers of coronary heart disease (CHD) - suffered by 2.1m people across the UK.

It can lead to heart failure, when the heart muscle does not pump efficiently, leading to tiredness, breathlessness and swelling of the ankles and feet.

Dr Vivienne Press, BHF assistant medical director, said: "Many people believe a heart attack is a 'good way to go'. However this is often far from the truth.

"CHD is not only the single most common cause of death and premature death in the UK, but also one of the biggest causes of suffering."