Methadone deaths in England and Wales have soared by more than a third between 2010 and 2011, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed.

Data on drug poisoning showed that methadone was implicated in 486 deaths in 2011 – a rise of 37 per cent on 2010. Methadone also accounted for a higher percentage of drug-related deaths – rising from 13 per cent in 2011 to 18 per cent last year.

Methadone was implicated in 486 deaths in 2011 – a rise of 37 per cent on 2010

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Last week, the National Records of Scotland revealed that methadone-related deaths in the country rocketed 58 per cent, prompting pharmacy leaders and addiction experts to call for more supervised consumption of the drug. "If methadone is reaching the streets and causing deaths, one way to reduce that is to have all methadone dispensed under supervision," said Community Pharmacy Scotland chief executive officer Harry McQuillan.

In England and Wales, methadone accounted for 13.5 male deaths per million people in 2011 - the highest rate since 1997. The ONS said this correlated to a "significant" increase in the proportion of 16 to 59-year-olds using the drug in 2010-11. A Druglink street drug trends survey found there had been a rise in methadone use by primary heroin users, possibly as a result of the "heroin drought".