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year, and are less than two-thirds of the average corresponding
rates in England and Wales. Death from pneumonia
and diseases of the heart and circulatory system have however
increased, and a distressing feature is the unusually high
number of fatal road accidents (7).
The birth rate, at 17.7 per 1,000 of the population, shows
little change, and is approximately equal to the average
corresponding rate of all similar localities in the country.
From mid-1948 to mid-1949, the population is estimated
to have increased from 35,190 to 40,940, and by the end of
1949 was approximately 46,520. The increase was mostly
due to immigration, as births only exceeded deaths by 401
during the year. The building of new houses has kept good
pace with the increase in population, so that taking the district
as a whole, overcrowding has not increased. The average
number of persons per inhabited house was 3.9, as compared
with 3.4 in the previous year.
It is worthy of note that no case of diphtheria has been
confirmed in this district since May, 1947.
The Hygienic Food Traders' Guild made steady progress
during the year, in which its organisation was completed
and enrolment of membership commenced. No large or
serious outbreak of food-poisoning was reported during the
year, though there are no doubt many isolated cases which
escape notification, and continued efforts to improve conditions
under which food is handled are a most valuable
contribution to the health of the community.
Part III of the National Health Service Act, 1946. The
County Council have, so far as possible, adhered to their
proposals made as Local Health Authority, and the work
over the past year has been conducted on the lines set
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