PEOPLE IN Oxfordshire are living about four years longer than they did 20 years ago, leading NHS chiefs to warn services will be pushed beyond breaking point.

Men living in the city and surroun-ding districts have added about four-and-a-half years to their life expectancy and women have added about three years since 1991, figures show.

Last night NHS Oxfordshire, which pays for county healthcare, said the ageing population was severely “stretching public services” and demand would eventually “exceed supply”.

A spokesman said: “The proportion of older people in the population is increasing and the working population will be increasingly stretched to fund public services for the retired.

“Because the proportion of younger people in Britain is falling compared with older people, demand for informal care by older people is predicted to exceed supply within the next 10 years – by 2017. “ The trust warned the number of over 65s living in Oxfordshire was set to rise from 99,000 to over 111,000 in five years.

The spokesman added: “The impact on services will be severe. The current range of services we provide will simply not be affordable.”

It is believed people are living longer because of better treatment for conditions such as cancer and heart disease and better access to health care.

But costly illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, strokes and heart disease are all common in older people.

NHS Oxfordshire has estimated that the cost of falls in the elderly alone, which cost £29,000 per fracture, will top £3m by 2016.

Marston resident Bill Jupp, 79, who campaigns for pensioners’ rights, said OAPs were upset about being seen by some as a burden on the state.

The Arlington Drive resident said: “All these people are from a generation who have made it through tough times.The 1920s and 30s were grim years and then, those of us who survived, were committed to fighting in a war to keep our freedom.

“Something radical needs to be done to look at the question of being old, and what we can afford out the national kitty.”

The figures also show a stark variation between life expectancy for the county’s rich and poor.

Oxford life expectancy is 78.9 years for men and 83.4 for women but this rises to 81.6 and 85.2 for the Vale of White Horse.

Age UK Oxfordshire chief executive Paul Cann said: “The rise in life expectancy is wonderful. Sadly this dividend is very unequally shared.”

More public cash was needed to “keep people healthy, on their feet, and engaged in work or help in their communities,” he said. “It’s only a demographic timebomb if we let it tick.”