Revealed: Smoking rates have risen in 20 areas of Britain over the past decade… so how close is YOUR area to being ‘smoke-free’?

The number of smokers has actually risen in 20 boroughs across Britain over the past decade, despite huge government efforts to eradicate the habit.

Official statistics suggest that the proportion of adults addicted to cigarettes has even doubled in some parts of the country since 2012.

This is despite the fact that smoking rates across Britain as a whole have fallen to an all-time low.

Only 11.9 percent of adults would regularly light the lamp in 2023, the Office for National Statistics says. This corresponds to approximately 6 million people.

Smoking is now no longer cool, especially among Generation Z, with the rate among 18 to 24 year olds having fallen by 60 percent since modern registration began.

Despite the downturn, which has been accompanied by a rapid rise in vaping, figures suggest the number of smokers in Uttlesford, Essex, has risen by 134 per cent.

About 24.9 of Uttlesford residents smoked in 2023, compared to 10.6 percent in 2012.

South Holland in Lincolnshire saw the second biggest increase (77.7 per cent), according to MailOnline’s analysis, from 14.8 per cent to 26.3 per cent.

The two areas recorded the highest figures in Britain.

Although twenty boroughs have defied national trends, seventeen authorities are now technically ‘smoke-free’.

This status is defined by the government as less than 5 percent of the adult population being smokers.

Ministers are aiming to make England smoke-free by 2030, with a possible ban on lighting in pub gardens, near football pitches and even outside nightclubs looming.

Areas that have already reached the threshold since last year include St Albans, Hertfordshire and Woking.

Due to small sample sizes in local areas, an individual year’s figures may vary more than expected from previous years.

Men smoke more often than women, regardless of other factors.

Young people aged 18 to 24 have seen the sharpest decline in smoking rates since 2011, from more than 25 percent to less than 10 percent in 2023.

The legal age to buy cigarettes in Britain is currently 18.

Under plans currently under consideration, ministers want to increase the sales age by one year every year from 2027. This would mean that those born after January 1, 2009 would never be able to legally purchase cigarettes.

Separate ONS figures also showed that the prevalence of vaping has risen from around 4 per cent to almost 10 per cent.

Vaping was highest among people aged 16 to 24, with more than one in six using devices that come in different flavors and colorful packaging.

Vapes, or e-cigarettes, are billed by the NHS as a useful tool in getting people off the more harmful traditional tobacco products.

But experts have raised concerns about a significant increase in the number of people who have never smoked as they continue to release addictive nicotine. E-cigarettes also contain harmful toxins and their long-term effects remain a mystery.

Research yesterday revealed that around 1 million people in England who have never used a traditional cigarette are vaping.

As well as their plans to ban smoking, the previous Tory government had also pledged to ban disposable e-cigarettes and curb the growing epidemic of child vaping.

According to Trading Standards, children as young as eight have adopted the habit.

They are sold in flavors such as strawberry ice cream, cotton candy and cherry cola, while some brands also feature cartoon characters