SMOKERS in East Lancashire have been encouraged to quit as part of a new campaign.

Public Health England (PHE) has released a new film showing the devastating harms that come from smoking.

They said this can be avoided by switching to an e-cigarette or using another type of quit aid.

The film has been released as part of PHE's 'Health Harms' campaign which encourages smokers to attempt to quit this January.

Professor John Newton, director of health improvement at PHE, said: "It would be tragic if thousands of smokers who could quit with the help of an e-cigarette are being put off due to false fears about safety.

"We need to reassure smokers that switching to an e-cigarette would be much less harmful than smoking.

"This demonstration highlights the devastating harms caused by every cigarette and helps people see that vaping is likely to pose only a fraction of the risk."

The film features smoking expert Dr Lion Shahab and Dr Rosemary Leonard.

It visually demonstrates the high levels of cancer-causing chemicals and tar inhaled by a smoker every month, compared to not smoking or using an e-cigarette.

Around 2.5 million adults are using e-cigarettes in England.