A North-South divide over the prescription of high dose opioids and other painkillers has been revealed by Sky News research.

The findings are being described as a "time bomb" of potential addiction problems.

In the North East, the amounts prescribed are three times more per head than in London, according to data collated from Open Prescribing.

SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://www.youtube.com/skynews

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/skynews
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skynews
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skynews
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skynews

For more content go to http://news.sky.com and download our apps:
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sky-news/id316391924?mt=8
Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bskyb.skynews.android&hl=en_GB

Sky News videos are now available in Spanish here/Los video de Sky News están disponibles en español aquí https://www.youtube.com/channel/skynewsespanol
Sky News videos are also available in German here/Hier können Sie außerdem Sky News-Videos auf Deutsch finden: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHYg31l2xrF-Bj859nsOfnA

To enquire about licensing Sky News content, you can find more information here: https://news.sky.com/info/library-sales