Towns where number of smokers has soared revealed – is yours on the list?
CHORLEY in Lancashire has seen the largest rise in smoker numbers in Britain over the last five years, research shows.
Analysis of government figures shows a six per cent decline in ciggie fans across the country since 2018.
But Chorley has seen a rise of 125 per cent — from eight per cent of adults to 18 per cent now, according to the research by online vape retailer Go Smoke Free.
Nationwide, 13 per cent of adults smoke — equal to six million people — down from nearly 50 per cent in the 1970s.
With a population of around 42,000 folk - 37,000 of them adults - that works out at 2,960 smokers in 2018.
Figures for the past year, however, found that now 18% of the town’s adults smoke - a rise of 10%…taking the number of smokers to 6,660.
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Colin Hopper, 39, of Chorley, said he gave up smoking 10 years ago - and now avoided smokers ‘like the plague’.
The delivery worker said: “I started smoking in my late teens, but gave up 10 years ago - and now I absolutely hate the smell.
“If I’m walking behind someone who is smoking I have to cross the road - I avoid them like the plague.”
Asked if he had noticed more smokers around, he said: “I’m definitely seeing more sitting outside the pubs puffing away - it used to be the odd two or three people, but I’ve noticed the groups are getting larger.”
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Among the famous faces from Chorley, include rugby icon Bill Beaumont, and The League of Gentleman star, Steve Pemberton.
Top ten increases:
1 Chorley, 125 per cent
2 Clitheroe, Lancs, 114 per cent
3 Brentwood, Essex, 107 per cent
4 Wantage, Oxford, 88 per cent
5 Dover, Kent, 79 per cent
6 Warwick, 63 per cent
7 Gravesend, Kent, 59 per cent
8 Hastings, East Sussex, 52 per cent
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9 Oxford, 46 per cent
10 Gloucester, 44 per cent