One in three people who commit suicide are in contact with GP before death but are not given enough help, warns a damning health select committee report.

MPs said long delays for specialist and a failure to identify mental health problems meant too many people at risk of taking their life were not getting help.

The report also calls for more to be done to restrict access to potentially “harmful internet content" which could encourage people to take their own lives.

MPs said action was needed to bring down the "unacceptable" suicide rate.

“Approximately one third of people who end their lives by suicide are in contact with their GP preceding their death, but are not receiving specialist mental health services,” the report states.

“There are serious concerns about the ongoing long waits after referral from primary care to specialist services and we urge the Government to address in its suicide prevention strategy how this situation will be improved.”

It calls for a national drive to improve awareness of mental health difficulties and identify potential suicide risks.

Tory MP and committee chairwoman Sarah Wollaston said: "4,820 people are recorded as having died by suicide in England last year, but the true figure is likely to be higher.