SMOKING is without a doubt one of the most serious – and preventable – risks to people’s health in East Lancashire.

In Blackburn with Darwen alone there are an estimated 25,700 smokers, while the region as a whole has one of the highest percentages of smokers in the country.

Now, after new laws in Australia were introduced forcing all tobacco products to be sold in plain packets with large health warnings, there have been renewed calls for the UK to follow suit.

Already the UK Government has promised a public consultation on the issue.

And according to a survey by Cancer Research more than 2,500 people from East Lancashire support the move.

However any ban will not be popular with everyone.

Pro-smoking group Forest has launched its own campaign, ‘Hands Off Our Packs’. It claims smokers will end up stigmatised and putting cigarettes in plain packets is ‘pointless’.

The decision to smoke should be something every individual gets to make for themselves.

But at the same time a move which points out the risks with bold ‘in your face’ messages could also be a good thing, persuading people to give up before their health is damaged.