YORK is set to become one of the first places in the country where no one smokes, according to new research.

The ‘last smoke’ is projected to happen in the city by 2026, say researchers from Frontier Economics, who were commissioned by tobacco company Philip Morris Limited (PML).

They predict York will be one of the first three places in England to stop smoking alongside Bristol, in 2024, and Wokingham, also in 2026.

They claim that only 9 per cent of people in York - about 15,000 people - smoked in 2017, compared with a national average for England of 15 per cent.

They said the York figure was 6.49 per cent down on the number smoking in 2011 and the 2026 prediction was based on extrapolations of such figures.

The prediction comes just a day after government figures showed that the number of pregnant women in York who were still smoking when their baby was born rose at the end of last year,

The percentage of pregnant women smoking rose from 7.5 per cent in the third quarter of last year to 11.9 per cent at the end of the year.

The new Frontier Economics research reveals there was a fall in smoking rates between 2011 and 2017 in every place in the country, apart from Cheshire East.

There was also a significant difference in smoking prevalence across England, with deprived areas having relatively more smokers.

The three local authorities with the highest rates of smoking – Kingston upon Hull, Blackpool and North Lincolnshire – had an average rate of 22.1 per cent.

The new figures are detailed on a website launched by PML - www.lastsmoke.co.uk – which presents ONS data for postcode areas through an interactive tool.

Mark MacGregor, of PML, said the research had revealed huge variations in the decline in smoking in different parts of the country.

Proposals suggested by the researchers to accelerate the end of cigarettes include more independent research into smoking alternatives and targeted government campaigns through school and social media to stop smoking in the first place. Another is tackling the trade in illicit cigarettes by taking tougher action against criminal gangs.