NEARLY a quarter of all women in Rochford smoke, shocking statistics have shown.

Latest figures have placed the town in the top ten in the UK of women who smoke.

Rochford was placed 7th with 22.8 per cent of women smoking, just behind Harlow which had 22.9 per cent.

Charles Bloom, managing director of Vapourcore.com, which carried out the research, said: “What is interesting, is where in the UK men and women smoke the most.

“We found the top ten local authorities in England for the highest male smoking rates differ completely to the top ten for the highest female smoking rates.

“This suggests it isn’t necessarily triggered by any one factor, such as employment or education, but choice.

“Perhaps more needs to be done in these areas to promote the benefits of giving up and to outline the help and advice that is available.”

The figures come as it was revealed more young adults in Southend are choosing not to smoke.

The Office of National Statistics says the amount of people in the town who have never smoked has risen by 20 per cent since 2011.

Last year, 17.8 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds across Britain said they smoked compared with 25 per cent in 2011.

Deborah Arnott, Action on Smoking and Health chief executive, put this reduction down to the recent bans on tobacco advertising.

She said: “The brightly coloured pack displays we used to have in shops disappeared completely in 2015 and the packs they do see nowadays are a sludgy green colour, with large picture warnings, rather than the brightly coloured, highly branded packs we used to have.

“Is it any wonder young people today increasingly choose not to smoke? It’s much less cool than it used to be.” Overall the proportion of smokers in Southend has gone down since 2011 with latest figures showing rates down from 21.8 per cent to 18 per cent.