A text service set up by the charity Console is being hailed as a groundbreaking development in suicide prevention among men.

Men are four times more likely to take their own lives than women - and up to this point, noone has been able to reach out to young men in large numbers.

Console is reporting a 49 per cent increase in the number of people texting its helpline so far this year - with two-thirds of the texts coming from men.

Chief Executive Paul Kelly says many men find it easier to text for help, rather than talk to someone over the phone: