A mum pushes her baby girl through Farnworth town centre. “I have to keep walking otherwise she’ll wake up,” she says as she gently rocks the pram from side to side.
The shopping precinct is busy but the tot doesn’t stir. Sleeping soundly beneath the safety of her blanket, she’s happy and healthy.
But her hometown has an unsettling secret. Babies born in the Moses Gate area of Farnworth are expected to live to just 75-years-old on average – meaning it has one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the country.
