A MOTHER-OF-TWO who started smoking at the age of just nine is supporting a campaign that is urging the Government to adopt plain packaging for cigarettes in a bid to deter young smokers.

Children in the North East are being worryingly manipulated by cigarette packaging, a new report has revealed.

Just over 13% of 16 to 25 year-olds surveyed for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) believed one branded cigarette pack was less harmful than another based on the packet design alone. Yet the reality is that all cigarettes contain harmful toxins, tar, and carbon monoxide.

Almost a fifth of young people in the North East said they would consider the pack design when deciding which cigarettes to buy while one in 10 said they would choose a brand because it was considered ‘cool’.

The report by the leading health charity has been published ahead of a Government consultation on whether Britain should adopt plain packaging for tobacco products – a move urged by tobacco experts and ex-smokers alike.

Tracey Henderson, from Bellingham in Northumberland, who started smoking when she was nine years old, said many young people are lured into smoking by the glamorous packaging.

The 28-year-old said: “Smoking a particular brand of cigarette is really important when you’re a young smoker because it gives you an identity. Having two young children myself, it really shocks me that the tobacco industry is finding new ways to attract young smokers. I particularly think it’s disgusting that young female smokers are being targeted with super-slim cigarettes.

“Teenage girls are so vulnerable about how they look and feel pressured enough about the latest trends, without the tobacco industry pressurising them with a message that smoking is the in thing to do.

Tracey said she quit smoking when she was 23 for the health of both her children, after one of them developed severe asthma whilst she was still smoking.

“It makes me feel incredibly angry that they, like other young people growing up, could be the next generation of young people being targeted with attractive packaging by the tobacco industry in the future,” she added.

The report – which included 115 young people aged 12 to 25 in the North East – showed that 79% think selling cigarettes in plain packs would make it easier for people to smoke less or quit.

As many as 85% of youngsters in the region also said they thought plain packs were less attractive than branded ones, which would indicate that plain packaging could make a difference in deterring young smokers.

Ailsa Rutter, director of North East anti-smoking group Fresh, said: “The majority of North East smokers start around 15 years old and we are particularly seeing smoking become prevalent among young women, who are being targeted by the tobacco industry with new slimline cigarettes in a bid to exploit and encourage an obsession with fashion and staying slim.

“Glamorous packaging helps to attract new customers – if it didn’t the tobacco industry wouldn’t spend millions of pounds developing new designs.”

The Government is due to launch a public consultation by spring this year on whether the UK should adopt plain packaging for tobacco products.

A ban on selling cigarettes from vending machines in England came into force in October last year.

Betty McBride, director of policy and communications at the BHF, said: “Tobacco advertising is rightly banned in the UK. Yet current glitzy packaging clearly still advertises tobacco on the cigarette box. It’s an absurd loophole the tobacco industry takes full advantage of to lure in new young smokers.”

The BHF is asking the Government to introduce a tobacco plain packaging bill into Parliament, and for ministers to seek amendments to the EU Tobacco Products Directive, which would enable large front-of-pack picture health warnings.

The charity is asking members of the public to register their support for plain packaging at www.bhf.org.uk/plainpackaging