MORE than a quarter of deaths among people aged over 34 in Worcestershire are smoking-related, according to new Government-commissioned research.

Twenty-seven per cent of deaths among the over-34s in South Worcestershire are associated with smoking, 29 per cent Redditch and Bromsgrove and 28 per cent in Wyre Forest.

In Herefordshire, smoking is blamed on 26 per cent of deaths over the age of 34.

The research, carried out by Portsmouth University for the NHS Health Development Agency, comes as the Government considers strict new restrictions on smoking in public.

Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, warned that passive smoking meant the figures contained in the report probably under-estimated the scale of the problem.

He said: "We are in the grip of a smoking epidemic - an estimated 106,000 people in the UK are dying needlessly each year because of smoking.

"These figures will almost certainly underestimate the impact of smoking as they do not take account of deaths caused by second-hand smoke."

The report also demonstrates that there are now more ex-smokers than current smokers as more people give up. Current smokers account for 27 per cent of the population, while another 34 per cent are ex-smokers.

Worcestershire's smokers are in an even smaller minority.

Less than a quarter of the population (24 per cent) covered by South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust currently smoke, while almost a third (32 per cent) have kicked the habit.

Ex-smokers

In the north of the county, Redditch and Bromsgrove PCT counts 25 per cent of its residents as smokers and 30 per cent as having given up, while 26 per cent of Wyre Forest residents smoke and another 31 per cent are ex-smokers.

The figures come as anti-smoking campaigners are demanding bans on smoking in public places as there are already in New York and Ireland.

It was announced this week that the Scottish Parliament will consider legislation before Christmas, to ban smoking in all enclosed public spaces north of the border, and the Department of Health is considering a similar scheme for England.

A White Paper on public health will be published within the next few weeks containing detailed plans for a licensing system for pubs.