THE gap between Scotland's historically high suicide rate and the situation in the rest of Great Britain is widening, a new study has revealed.

Fresh research has found the number of people taking their own lives per head of population is growing faster north of the Border than in England and Wales, fuelled by a rash of suicides among young men.

According to the study's most recent figures, the proportion of young Scottish men taking their own lives was almost double that of the rest of Great Britain.

Since the late 1960s, Scotland's suicide rate has been higher than that of the rest of Great Britain and has been increasing, while the rate in England and Wales has fallen.

Experts say there is no one cause behind the increasing gap, but have pointed the finger at Scotland's troubled relationship with alcohol, increased levels of deprivation, and the loss of traditionally "male" jobs that came with the decline of the country's heavy industries.

The study, carried out by the universities of Manchester and Edinburgh and the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow, examined suicide rates north and south of the Border between 1960 and 2008.

The team found the suicide rate in both men and women was lower in Scotland until around 1968, when it overtook the rate in England and Wales.

Suicides among men continued to rise on both sides of the Border until the early 1990s, when rates in England and Wales began to fall and the gap between north and south widened.

According to figures covered by the report, the suicide rate among young men in Scotland was 30 per 100,000 people in 2008, compared to about 17 per 100,000 in England and Wales.

Joint lead researcher Dr Roger Webb, from The University of Manchester's Centre for Suicide Prevention, said: "The research clearly indicates much of the divergence in the national suicide rates has been driven by a marked increase in risk among Scottish young adults, especially males, and deaths by hanging in this group in particular."

Caroline Morrison, from Dundee, who lost her son Darryn to suicide in 2006, said it was appalling so many young men felt they had nowhere to turn. She said: "Darryn was a bright, talented boy and he should have had his whole life ahead of him, but he got to a point where he felt he had no future.

"It is so sad so many young men are still dying. We have to get past the culture where young Scottish men feel they can't talk about their problems and are able to reach out when they need help.

"We need to cherish our young people and celebrate them with as many positive messages as we can."

Experts said it would take a prolonged effort on behalf of the Scottish Government and other agencies to tackle the suicide rate.

However, much has already been done to address the problem, including the setting up of NHS Scotland's suicide prevention body Choose Life.

Isabella Goldie, who leads the Scottish arm of the charity The Mental Health Foundation, said: "We know there is a link between suicide and deprivation and poverty and we have much to do in Scotland to address our unequal society.

"In addition, experiencing a mental health problem is a major risk factor including substance misuse, especially alcohol and again mental health problems are not evenly distri-buted with the poorest in our society most at risk of experiencing mental health problems.

"The Government have indicated they will continue to take a public health focus on suicide and have recently completed a consultation phase of a new mental health strategy."

A spokeswoman for Choose Life said: "Choose Life welcomes the findings of this study which emphasise more than ever suicide is a serious problem in Scotland, particularly among men. Anything that can help us better understand the health behaviours and social factors associated with suicide means we can do even better in achieving our goal of reducing as many deaths by suicide as we can, and we look forward to the follow-up paper to this research."