LANCASHIRE'S fire chief has called for self-extinguishing cigarettes to be made available in the UK.

So-called "Fire Safer" cigarettes, introduced in 21 States across the USA and in the whole of Canada, are specially manufactured to self-extinguish without smouldering and causing fires if carelessly discarded.

In the UK, fires started by cigarettes account for 30 deaths in every 1,000 fires, by far the highest killer.

Fires from started from all other sources account for eight deaths for every 1,000 fires.

Chief fire officer of the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Peter Holland, said: "Fires started as a result of smoking remain a significant cause of fires in homes and take a dreadful toll in terms of deaths and injuries.

"We know that these fires are most likely to start during the night and that some of the most common places for them to start are sofas, beds and carpets."

A UK Government source estimates that if Fire Safer cigarettes had replaced conventional cigarettes in the UK in 2003, the number of smoking-related fires in homes would have fallen by almost two-thirds.

They claim the number of fatalities in such fires would drop from 123 to 45 and the number of non-fatal casualties from 1416 to 530.