SMOKERS still make up more than a fifth of Bradford's adult population, according to latest statistics.

Public Health England's figures for Bradford show 22.6 per cent of adults across the district are still hooked on cigarettes.

A total of 20.1 per cent of all over 18s in Yorkshire and the Humberside smoke - the highest in England which has an average rate of 18 per cent.

Scotland has the highest average smoking rate in the UK at 20.3 per cent.

The overall UK figures also show 20.7 per cent of men were cigarette smokers. The figure for women was 15.9 per cent.

The figures for 2014 were released yesterday by the Office of National Statistics to coincide with the new ban on smoking in cars with children and the start of the anti-smoking Stoptober campaign.

Manual workers and people living in deprived areas are more likely to smoke and the proportion who smoked cigarettes was higher among adults who identified themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual at 25.3 per cent compared with those who identified themselves as heterosexual at 18.4 per cent.

Joanne Nykol, Bradford Council's anti-tobacco officer said: "Authorities across the Yorkshire and the Humber are working together with the aim of creating a smokefree generation by 2025.

"We know that two thirds of smokers have either tried to or want to give up smoking and getting support from a stop smoking services is the most effective way of quitting.

"But we ideally want to stop children who are five-years-old now from ever wanting to try any form of smoking when they are 15, the age when most long-term smokers start."

Many Bradford smokers have joined more than a quarter of a million smokers across the UK in attempting to remain smoke-free for 28 days in the Stoptober campaign.

Councillor Ralph Berry, the Council's portfolio holder for health and social care, said: "We are committed to tackling premature deaths across the district and getting involved in Stoptober is one way you can help reduce the number of people who die of smoking-related illnesses.

"Two thirds of smokers want to quit smoking and by taking this opportunity, you are not only improving your health but helping to create a smokefree environment across the district for the next generation."