Hundreds more young people across Dorset are shunning smoking, new figures show.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of people smoking across West Dorset has fallen by nearly eight per cent from 17 per cent in 2012 to almost 13 per cent in 2017.

Meanwhile, in Weymouth and Portland, the figures showed that 19 per cent of the population currently smoke, a fall from 21 per cent in 2012.

This decrease, the ONS says is because more 18 to 24-year-olds are choosing not to smoke.

They said that across the UK, the trend, which is reflected in all local authorities showed that around 17.8 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds said they were current smokers, compared with 2011 when more than a quarter of the population smoked.

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, said: “Smoking rates have dropped by almost a quarter in five years, a triumphant step in eliminating the nation’s biggest killer.

“The data shows we are winning the war on tobacco and that we are tantalisingly close to creating the first-ever smoke-free generation in England.

“But that war will only be won if we make more progress in helping people from deprived areas and people suffering from poor mental health, where we know smoking rates remain stubbornly high.”

However, Deborah Arnott, chief executive of charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) stressed that funding for stop smoking services needed to be improved.

She added: “ASH supports the government’s vision, set out in the Tobacco Control Plan for England, of a smoke-free generation,” she said.

“But smoking must become history for all of society not just for the wealthy.

“Cuts in public health funding and lack of treatment for smoking on the NHS mean poorer more heavily addicted smokers, including those who are pregnant, are not getting the help they need to quit.”