People are dying because antibiotics are no longer working for them.

Around 5,000 deaths are caused every year in England because antibiotics no longer work for some infections.

Experts fear the figure will rise, predicting that in just over 30 years antibiotic resistance will kill more people than cancer and diabetes.

Doctors ask patients to trust their advice, never save antibiotics for later use or share them with others.

And patients need to stop asking for them to treat common illnesses such as flu and colds.

Dr Steve Ollerton, a GP and clinical leader of NHS Greater Huddersfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “Each time you take antibiotics you increase the chance of bugs developing resistance. This risk is even greater for children who have taken antibiotics.”

Dr David Kelly, GP and chairman of NHS North Kirklees CCG, added: “Antibiotics help ward off infections during chemotherapy, caesarean sections and other surgery.

“They also treat serious bacterial infections, such as pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis, but they are being used for everyday viral infections, such as colds or flu, where they are not effective.

“Taking antibiotics encourages harmful bacteria that live inside you to become resistant. That means that antibiotics may not work when you really need them.”