More adults in Tendring were smokers last year – bucking the trend across the UK.

The Office for National Statistic's population survey in Tendring revealed an estimated 20 per cent of adults in the area were smokers in 2023 – up from 14 per cent the year before.

The survey asked people if they "smoke cigarettes nowadays".

The figures showed 31 per cent of adults in Tendring were ex-smokers, while just under 49 per cent had never smoked.

Across the UK, smoking levels reached their lowest level since national records began in 2011, with under 12 per cent of adults saying they smoked cigarettes.

In the East of England, 11.5 per cent smoked.

The charity Action on Smoking and Health urged the Government to bring forward its bill to end the sale of tobacco and to create a generation "free from the harms of smoking".

Chief executive Hazel Cheeseman said: "Our poorest communities continue to pay the price for tobacco company profits, as do our public services and economy.

"Alongside creating a smoke-free generation, the Government must maintain the commitment of the last Government to invest in support to help the six million people currently smoking to quit."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "Smoking claims 80,000 lives a year, puts huge pressure on our NHS and costs taxpayers billions.

"The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will protect future generations from the harms of tobacco and nicotine, saving thousands of lives and easing pressures on the NHS."