ANDY BURNHAM last night ruled out tough new measures to stop Merseysiders smoking and drinking to excess.

Despite figures showing the region’s residents die much younger than people in other areas, he insisted such crackdowns “don’t work”.

The new health secretary described measures such as stricter restrictions on cigarette sales and on cut-price alcohol as “finger-wagging” which could easily backfire.

Instead, Liverpool-born Mr Burnham said the solution was more initiatives to encourage people to take exercise, following on from the success of free swimming for the young and old.

His comments came just a week after the latest “health profiles” revealed people are more likely to die prematurely from cancer in Liverpool than anywhere else in England.

In the city, 164 under-75s per 100,000 die from cancer, compared with a national average of 116.

In the affluent London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the rate is less than half of Liverpool’s, at 79 per 100,000.

Deaths due to smoking in Liverpool are also among the highest in England, at 329.4 per 100,000, as are hospital stays for alcohol-related harm.

The government’s own chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, has led calls for more expensive alcohol, a quicker ban on cigarette displays and even a “fat tax” on unhealthy foods.

But, in his first interview discussing so-called “health inequalities” since taking up his post, Mr Burnham said: “I do not reach for those punitive things. I am a big believer that, rather than going for finger-wagging, that physical activity is the really important area where you can make a big difference.

“The figures on free swimming are very impressive.