A DECADE on from legislation which was set to change the face of smoking culture, could we go further?

The leisure industry faced a massive shake-up when the smoking ban was imposed on England's pubs, clubs, restaurants, work places and public buildings on July 1, 2007.

On its 10th anniversary, health bosses have praised the benefits it has had on the public's health.

However, while spaces now boast cleaner air and the number of smokers has dropped, there are still many questions left unanswered.

Among them is what more can be done to prevent passive smoking and could the UK ever become smoke-free?

Public health charity ASH has been tracking the public's attitude to smoking legislation over the past 10 years.

Using a survey carried out by polling company YouGov, it found that despite the many measures that have been introduced over the past decade, the proportion of respondents from the North West who think the government is not doing enough to tackle smoking has risen from 29 per cent in 2009 to 43 per cent in 2017.

Nationally, over three quarters of adults support the government’s activities to limit smoking or think they could do more, while only 11 per cent believe that the government is doing too much.

Fiona Ashton, lead for the Bolton Stop Smoking Service, believes pop culture still has a part to play in helping to stop young people smoking.

She said: "The prevalence of smoking has gone down and the important thing is children growing up don't think smoking is normal anymore.

"I deliver training and when I'm talking about what it was like before the ban, people smoking at their desks or not being able to see the back of the bus because of the smoke, younger people are flabbergasted.

"A lot of government funding for national campaigns to stop smoking has been cut – it's just not as invested in as much anymore. It's easy for the rest of us to say why spend money on it. People should just quit but smoking is highly addictive and it's very hard if you have done it for so many years.

"Plain packaging has put people off and younger people don't see it as cool now. That can only be a good thing but it does not help when you see people like Johnny Depp on stage in Glastonbury finishing off a cigarette – he's a role model.

"Fortunately characters like James Bond don't smoke anymore. You don't want children to see it."

In 10 years since the UK became smoke- free in public spaces, 10 more pieces of legislation have been passed:

1. Smoke-free legislation – illegal to smoke in an enclosed public place (2007)

2. Increase in the legal age of sale of tobacco to 18 (2007)

3. Introduction of graphic health warnings on packs (2008)

4. Ban of sale of cigarettes in vending machines (2011)

5. Introduction of 2% above inflation tax on tobacco (2011)

6. Ban on display of tobacco in shops (2012/2015)

7. Offence for people to buy tobacco for under 18s (2014)

8. Ban of smoking in cars with under 18s present (2015)

9. Introduction of standard packaging (2016/17)

10. Introduction of minimum pack size (2016/17)

The ASH also found growing support for the smoking legislation in the North West, up from 76 per cent in April 2007 to 85 per cent in 2017.

The survey also showed that 73 per cent of people in the North West would support a new levy on tobacco manufacturers, to be used to help smokers to quit and to prevent young people from starting to smoke.

ASH is now calling on the Government to publish the new Tobacco Control Plan with tough new targets and a commitment to reducing inequalities without further delay.

GP and chairman of Bolton NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, Dr Wirin Bhatiani believes more work needs to be done to raise awareness of illnesses caused by smoking and passive smoking.

He said: "There is much more to be done in schools to raise awareness to help children and young people understand the risks.

"Not so long ago there was a big drive in schools to raise awareness of the harmful effects of drugs, I think a similar campaign on smoking would pay dividends.

"Our young people can play a very positive role in their own families to encourage people to think about the effects of smoking.

"Don't underestimate the power of children, they can have a great influence!"