More adults in Oxford were smokers last year, new figures show – bucking the trend across the UK.

It comes as public health 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".

Based on the 94 respondents to the Office for National Statistic's annual population survey in Oxford, an estimated 7.8 per cent of adults in the area were smokers in 2023 – up slightly from 7.4 per cent the year before.

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

The figures also showed 17.9 per cent of adults in Oxford were ex-smokers, while 74.3 per cent have never smoked.

ASH chief executive Hazel Cheeseman said the figures are proof the country is "ready to be smoke-free".

She added: "There is cross-party support for ending the sale of tobacco and creating a generation free from the harms of smoking and Government should bring forward the bill as soon as possible."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Vapes can be an effective way for adult smokers to quit, but we have always been clear children and adult non-smokers should not vape."

They added: "Meanwhile, 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."