New data has revealed that just over 10 per cent of Dorset's adult population smoke.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published figures that estimate the number of people aged over 18 who are current smokers.

The data has been broken down by local authorities in the UK, with 10.2 per cent of adults in the Dorset Council area believed to be smokers.

The figures released are a five year averages covering the period of 2019 to 2023.

Dorset has a lower proportion of smokers than most, with the highest local authority area, Fenland District Council, in Cambridgeshire, with 22.1 per cent.

The lowest area is Woking, in Surrey with just 5.3 per cent and Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole has a slightly higher proportion than Dorset Council with 10.7 per cent of its adult population smokers.

READ: Dorset Council launches new Swap 2 Stop smoking scheme

In March, Dorset Council launched a new scheme encouraging people to swap cigarettes for vapes as part of a campaign that is aiming at making the county smokefree by 2030.

Between 2017 and 2019 there were over 3,000 deaths due to smoking, according to the council. 

It aims to reduce the number of smokers in the county to fie percent.