VERY few people in the North-East are aware of the shocking level of devastation caused by tobacco each year in the UK, according to new figures released by Cancer Research UK.

Only about a fifth (19 per cent) of the 195 adults surveyed in the North East knew that there are 100,000 deaths as a result of smoking every year in the UK.

The figures add further weight to Cancer Research UK’s ongoing campaign to remove all attractive and stylish designs from tobacco.

Glossy packaging adds to the deadly allure of cigarettes. Standardised packaging would remove this and increase the impact of picture health warnings.

Smoking causes more than eight out of 10 cases of lung cancer, and starting smoking at a young age greatly increases the risk of lung cancer. At least 13 other types of cancer are also linked to tobacco, including oesophageal, mouth, bladder, bowel, pancreatic and kidney.

The findings also show there is strong public support to protect children from tobacco marketing and remove the clever design gimmicks from tobacco packaging, putting all tobacco in plain, standardised packaging. Only 12 per cent oppose the measure.

Three quarters (76 per cent) also agree that children should not be exposed to any tobacco marketing.

The results are published as standardised packaging takes the next step in becoming law, with the House of Commons now considering the move. A week earlier the House of Lords backed the measure, more than a year and a half after the Government first began consulting on this issue in April 2012.

Alison Cox, Cancer Research UK’s head of tobacco policy, said: “Marketing can be the first hook that draws young people into a lifetime of nicotine addiction, an addiction that ends in death for half of all long-term smokers.”