KIPPERS have been turning up around the region as part of a push to stop parents smoking around their children.

The kippers highlight one of the key slogans of the anti-smoking campaign: "Don't Turn Your Nippers Into Kippers."

Launched today and backed by health authorities across the North-East, the campaign highlights the damage which can be inflicted on children by smoking.

Every year, 17,000 children are admitted to hospital because of problems linked to passive smoking, according to the Royal College of Physicians.

Now the North-East Alliance Against Tobacco (Neat) is urging smokers to be more careful when they breathe out a dangerous cocktail of chemicals, including arsenic, cyanide and ammonia.

Armed with funding from the Department of Health, Neat has commissioned bus adverts and radio messages throughout the North-East.

The campaign will feature characters known as the Smellybreathies, Delivery Man Dan and Larry Pooter.

The main aim is to raise the awareness of the dangers passive smoking pose to young children, either when they are at home, in care or in a public place.

Judith MacMorran, chairwoman of Neat, said: "Patients must recognise that passive smoking causes ill health in children.

"Even if parents can't give up smoking, they should try to limit their children's exposure to tobacco smoke."

Passive smoking - breathing in a smoky environment - can increase the risk of chest infections, breathing problems, asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis and cot death.

Children of parents who smoke inhale amounts of nicotine equivalent to 60 to 150 cigarettes a year. Smoking is the biggest single preventable cause of premature death in the North-East.

* For advice and support on stopping smoking, call the NHS Smoking Helpline on 0800 169 0169.