A CONSULTANT from a North-East hospital trust has backed a new national campaign to discourage smoking when children are in cars.

Dr Stephen Cronin, Consultant Paediatrician with County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, said "We see too many cases where children have to be admitted to hospital suffering from wheezy bronchitis and exposure to cigarette smoke either causes it or makes the condition worse."

He was speaking after the Government launched a new campaign to increase awareness of the hidden dangers of smoking in home and cars.

More than 80 per cent of second-hand smoke is invisible and odourless, and contains harmful cancer-causing toxins and poisons. TV adverts will show that smoking out of a car window or the back door is not enough to protect children from second-hand smoke.

Every day millions of children in the UK are exposed to second-hand smoke, which puts them at increased risk of lung disease, meningitis and cot death. Treatment costs the NHS more than £23m each year. Dr Cronin said: "Children are especially vulnerable as their lungs and bodies are still developing. It is particularly distressing to see a young child suffering from wheezy bronchitis where they are struggling for breath.

"Babies and children who breathe in smoke are more likely to suffer asthma attacks and chest infections, get more coughs and colds and need more hospital care. "I would urge anyone who smokes around children to quit. Even smoking in another room or with the car window down means your children are exposed to poisons."

The national campaign is also supported by Fresh, the North-East tobacco control agency.

Two years ago a report from the Royal College of Physicians revealed that 13,000 youngsters in the North-East need hospital or GP treatment every year from breathing in smoke.