It has been a gruelling war of attrition, but British men are finally close the life expectancy gap.

A study by Imperial College London and the World Health Organisation has found that men born in 2030 are expected to live until they are 82.5 years old, and women until 85.3. The gap of 2.8 years is down from 3.8 years in 2011, 4.6 years in 2001, and 6.3 years in 1971.

The latest study chimes with research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published in 2015, that showed that well-off men in professional jobs can expect to live for 82.5 years – higher than the life expectancy of the average woman (82.4 years).