Market town revealed as UK’s smoking capital with huge RISE in those lighting up – where does your area rank?

2 – Clitheroe, Lancashire – 17%THE smoking capital of Britain is Chorley, Lancashire — after a big rise in folk puffing away.

Chorley is the smoking capital of Britain
Chorley is the smoking capital of BritainCredit: Alamy

Research shows 18 per cent of the town’s adults lit up last year, up from eight per cent in 2019.A spokesman said the past five years has seen a six per cent fall across the UK.The delivery worker said: “I started smoking in my late teens, but gave up 10 years ago – and now I absolutely hate the smell.That bucks the national trend with just 13 per cent of UK adults now smoking, down from 50 per cent in the 1970s.

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9 – Oxford – 11%8 – Hastings, East Sussex – 11%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.”Chorley’s Lancashire neighbour Clitheroe was second for smokers, with 17 per cent, followed by Brentwood, Essex, on 14 per cent.

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1 – Chorley, Lancashire – 18%

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Colin Hopper, 40, of Chorley, said he gave up smoking 10 years ago – and now avoids smokers ‘like the plague’.4 – Wantage, Oxfordshire – 13%6- Warwick, Warwickshire – 12%10 – Gloucester – 9%7- Gravesend, Kent – 11%“If I’m walking behind someone who is smoking I have to cross the road – I avoid them like the plague.”5- Dover, Kent – 13%But he added: “There are still several areas reporting an uptake in people smoking, including Chorley, which saw a large rise.”3 – Brentwood, Essex – 14%Wantage in Oxfordshire and Dover were both on 13 per cent, according to analysis of government figures by vape specialists Go Smoke Free.
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