Gloucester has the highest proportion of smokers in the South West, new figures reveal.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), more than one in five people in Gloucester smoked last year.
That's four times as many smokers as in Christchurch, Dorset, where just 4.6 per cent of people smoke, the lowest percentage in Britain.
The statistics showed 11.1 per cent of Bristol's population of approximately 456,000 people smoke, while 21.3 per cent of Gloucester's 128,355 residents smoke.
However the number of smokers in Gloucester is dropping.
In 2011, 23.2 per cent of Gloucester's population smoked. By 2017 this figure had dropped to 21.3 per cent.
WHAT WAS THE POPULATION OF SMOKERS IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE LAST YEAR?
- Gloucester: 21.3 per cent
- Tewkesbury: 15.9 per cent
- Forest of Dean: 15.2 per cent
- Stroud: 12 per cent
- Cheltenham: 10.5 per cent
- Cotswold: 9.8 per cent
Smoking is the biggest cause of preventable deaths in England, accounting for more than 96,000 deaths each year.
On average, cigarette smokers die 10 years younger than non-smokers and one in two smokers will die from a smoking-related disease.
In Gloucestershire between 2011/12 and 2015/16 around 15,649 people have been supported to quit smoking in the county, according to Gloucestershire County Council.
Councillor Tim Harman, cabinet member for public health at the authority, said: “We know that smoking is an important contributory factor in a range of diseases, including heart disease, respiratory disease and a number of cancers.
“We commission Healthy Lifestyles Gloucestershire to help residents stop smoking through intensive support and they have been having a really positive impact on the lives of residents across the county.
"They have helped 761 people to give up smoking since January 2017, which is great news."