RAY Mallon will be taking a zero tolerance stance on ‘frequent fliers’ who unnecessarily clog up the NHS in his new role at Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation.

The outgoing mayor of Middlesbrough plans to use the same no-nonsense approach to relieving pressure on the health service as he used when tackling crime more than a decade ago as Detective Superintendent at Cleveland Police.

He has been signed up by Middlesbrough Football Club chairman, Steve Gibson, to join the foundation, which engages with 30,000 youngsters and adults each year to raises aspirations and improves outcomes through sport, education and health.

He said that instead of drawing a salary of £50,000 to £60,000 in his new job – which will take up between 25 to 30 hours each week – he is working for free.

Mr Mallon, who is stepping down after 13 years at the helm of Middlesbrough Council, said that out of 23 wards, 16 were deemed socially deprived and five are in the top one per cent of social deprivation in the country.

“There’s too many people turning up at GP surgeries that do not need to be there. The NHS cannot go on dealing with the demand, it needs help. It’s everybody’s problem, not just the NHS’s problem. I do not believe that the foundation is a team of magicians but they have got the will.”

Mr Mallon said people who were unnecessary drains on health resources were known in the NHS as ‘frequent fliers’.

“For me the fixation is how can we stop people going to Accident & Emergency with a headache. The percentage of people who should not be there on a daily basis is a lot of people, that’s putting a greater burden on the NHS and I think the foundation can really help in this area."

As a teenager Mr Mallon, who turns 60 in June, captained the under-20 Great Britain water polo team and went on to represent his country over 50 times. “I am fanatical about sport and exercise and I like going through pain," he added.

Foundation chairman, Stewart Smith, said a major initiative was needed to address issues in the town and it was planned that ‘life coaches’ would go into every primary school in Middlesbrough to promote healthy eating, citizenship and healthy lifestyles amongst youngsters and their parents.

“For the last 20 years since the foundation was founded our core aims have been the same. We have the ability to use the power and reach of the club badge to reach out to communities,” he said.