Number of people smoking in the borough is on the rise

THE smoking rate in Hinckley has risen for the second year in a row - as the figure for the UK continues to decline.

Statistics released by the ONS show that 15% of people in Hinckley and Bosworth smoke - up from 11.9% in 2017 and 11.6% in 2016.

It’s the highest proportion of smokers recorded since 2015, when 23.5% of the population considered themselves current smokers.

The statistics show that Hinckley may be being left behind as the UK population gradually phases out cigarettes.

Melton and North West Leicestershire both also saw a rise in smokers in the last year.

In the rest of Leicestershire, the smoking rate dropped - but overall there was a rise.

The county as a whole saw 13.2% of people smoke in 2018, compared to 12.1% in 2017.

And the UK as a whole recorded its lowest level of smoking since comparable records began in 2011.

Nationally some 14.7% of adults smoked in 2018 - compared to 20.2% in 2011.

As smoking decreases, vaping continues to grow.

There were approximately 3.2 million vapers in Great Britain in 2018 equivalent to 6.3% of the population.

That’s compared to just 3.7% back in 2014.

So why are some parts of the country more successful others?

It could be to do with the economy. The ONS says that smoking prevalence last year was 2.5 times higher in routine and manual occupations than managerial and professional occupations.

They also found that unemployed people were more likely to smoke than employed people, those with no qualifications were more likely to smoke than those with a degree, and LGB people were more likely to smoke than straight people.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of health charity ASH said: “ASH welcomes the continuing decline in adult smoking rates, although the rate of decline has slowed.

“Worse still the lower headline rate at quitting than hides a wide disparity across society, with around one in twenty adults smoking in Richmond upon Thames, while in deprived communities like Blackpool it is one in five.

“Higher smoking rates are responsible for half the difference in life expectancy between rich and poor.

“Eradicating the difference in smoking rates is the single most important step towards ending the burning injustice that, if you’re born poor, you will die on average 9 years earlier than others by.

“The Government has admitted this cannot be achieved by ‘business as usual.’

“In its forthcoming Prevention Green Paper the Government must respond to public demand and impose a ‘polluter pays’ levy on the tobacco industry, as well as implementing tougher laws on smoking, such as increasing the age of sale for cigarettes to 21.”

Looking nationally, NHS data shows no significant decline in the rate of women smoking during pregnancy over the last year.

Some 10.6% of women smoked during pregnancy in 2018/19 compared to 10.8% in 2017/18.

The figures come as the Association of Optometrists has launched a campaign to improve awareness of the smoking associated risks to eyesight.

They say that only 18% of the general population recognise the connection between blindness and smoking, and that the majority of optometrists examine a patient with eye disease linked to smoking every month.