A GP is urging smokers to replace their tobacco cigarettes with electronic versions to help them quit the habit altogether.

Dr Chris Tasker, along with Government-funded organisation Fresh, has put out the warning as official research shows e-cigarettes, otherwise known as vapes, have fewer harmful chemicals.

Latest figures reveal around two-and-a-half million people in England use e-cigarettes. However, 44 per cent of smokers believe smoking an e-cigarette is as harmful.

Dr Tasker said: “Smoking is one of the things I see a lot of in my job. It can have a big impact on a person’s health, including lung diseases and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as many different types of cancer.

“When someone starts smoking, they often won’t see the consequences until later in life when the real problems start.

“There is still a lot of confusion surrounding vaping as many people believe it is as harmful as smoking, when in fact vaping poses much lower risks to someone’s health.

The GP said patients regularly share concerns that e-cigarette’s are not safe but said patients had been able to quit with the technology.

He said: “The advice I give my patients is that stopping smoking is the best thing they can do for their health. There are much fewer chemicals in vaping than in cigarettes, so it is far less harmful than smoking and can be helpful to people who might otherwise struggle to quit.”

The warning comes as Public Health England release a film of an scientific experiment which demonstrates the effects of smoking.

The film shows the amount of tar inhaled by the average smoker and features cotton-buds in a makeshift lung, which gradually discolour as the toxins are released.

Tobacco cigarettes are known to contain arsenic and acetone which turn deadly when lit.

In the film, makeshift lungs of an e-cigarette smoker and a non-smoker reveals the cotton buds remain the same colour.

Ailsa Rutter director of Fresh said: “At least one in two long term smokers, are going to die from an avoidable smoking related illness.

“We’re encouraging smokers to try and make a quit attempt at least once a year – and New Year is a great time to give it a go and make this time the one you quit for good.

“There’s lots of help out there for people thinking about stopping smoking, including vaping which is at least 95 per cent less harmful than smoking.

“Electronic cigarette products are now the country’s most popular quitting aid, and we need to support anyone using them to stay tobacco free.”