“IT’S shocking that my daughter is allowed to do this. I know it’s her choice, but it’s not an informed choice and she’s being taken advantage of.”

The horrified mother of a 13-year-old girl ‘addicted’ to shisha tobacco has demanded illegal smoking dens in Blackburn town centre be closed down to protect the scores of children using them every weekend.

Her daughter is one of the youngsters who travel each weekend to Darwen Street from the Ribble Valley to spend hours in flats sharing pipes filled with flavoured tobacco.

Yesterday, the Lancashire Telegraphe revealed the extent of the problem in Blackburn.

Police and trading standards believe as many as six dens are operating in town centre flats, with the adults behind them making lots of money.

The mother, who didn’t want to be identified, said she was speaking out to try and make other parents aware of the situation.

She said: “It started off just after Christmas and she was being cagey about where she had been.

"I accused her of drinking and that’s when she told me the truth.

“I wasn’t aware of shisha at all so I looked it up on the internet and read about the illegal tobacco, the nicotine addiction and other dangers.

"When she told me how much money she’d been spending there I was horrified.”

Her daughter admitted spending £60 of her 13th birthday money in just one day, paying for 10 sessions at £6 a time.

The mum believes hundreds of youngsters aged between 12 and 16 are involved.

She said they came from Clitheroe, Whalley and Wilpshire on a £1.30 return train ticket to Blackburn on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons.

She said: “These places provide food, drink, warmth, freedom and put on music television channels and a lot are using it as a social meeting place because they have nowhere else to go.

“But these flats are not in public view so you wonder what else shisha could lead to.

"These kids are associating it with cannabis because of the bong-style pipes. It gives it kudos.”

The worried mum said she had tried to keep her teenage daughter in for two-and-a-half weeks after the discovery, but admitted she couldn’t carry that on indefinitely.

The 13-year-old comes home between 9.30pm and 10pm, but some of her friends stay out in Blackburn town centre until 11.30pm.

Word is spread through Facebook and other internet sites, the mum said.

She added: “I still think she’s going now. She just thinks because she’s allowed to do it in these places, it’s legal and I’m over-reacting.

"I’ve tried to explain that if she was sold a cigarette at a corner shop they would be fined and in court.

“Her attitude has changed at school and at home because she’s lying to cover her tracks and it has led to a lot of arguments.

"A lot of these children are from middle-class families.

"They are spending their £10 pocket money on a Friday night. If all her group chip in, that’s £100 between them.

“She’d never smoked before, now I think she’s smoking cigarettes too.

"They’re just not aware of the health risks and it has become widespread - 80 per cent of her friends are doing it.

"It’s the latest trend.”

Police said the dens break legislation on underage smoking, and laws on smoking inside commercial premises.

They are carrying out several investigations in a bid to shut the venues down.

The mother added: “The authorities should close these places down.

"I want the police out there watching who goes in and out, doing spot checks like they do for clubs and pubs.”