Nearly one in ten people in Waltham Forest will have diabetes by 2020, according to new research.

Charity Diabetes UK say the number of people diagnosed has risen by 308 this year compared to the previous 12 months, with eight per cent of residents aged over 16 now thought to have the condition.

The charity warns that this trend, which largely shows a rise in type 2 diabetes, is set to continue, with 10 per cent of the population set to be diabetic in seven years.

Diabetes UK estimates 850,000 people in the UK are unaware that they have the condition.

Roz Rosenblatt, Diabetes UK’s regional manager for London, said: “It is alarming that the number of people with diabetes in Waltham Forest has gone up by 308 in a single year.

“I know that we all have busy lives and that thinking about future health can be uncomfortable, but it is only if people in Waltham Forest grasp the nettle and get their risk assessed that we can start to bring the rise in diabetes in the area to an end.”

People can get check their risk level at a Tesco pharmacy, their GP surgery, or online at www.diabetes.org.uk/risk