MORE than 100,000 children in Yorkshire and the Humber have tried vaping, the Shadow Minister for Public Health told Parliament.

Andrew Gwynne MP branded the figure "staggering" as he put forward a motion in the House of Commons expressing concern about children being 'inappropriately exposed to e-cigarette promotions.'

Mr Gwynne, who is also the Labour MP for Denton and Reddish, said: "In Yorkshire and the Humber, it is estimated that 30 per cent of secondary school students have tried vaping, which equates to around 109,000 children. It is just staggering."

He said under-age vaping had increased by 50 per cent in just three years and added that schools had reported confiscating e-cigarettes from children as young as seven.

Mr Gwynne said: "Last year, 15 children aged nine or under were hospitalised due to vaping, with health experts warning that the excessive use of e-cigarettes in children could be linked to lung collapse, lung bleeding and air leak."

Speaking during the debate, one Yorkshire MP said the risk of more children taking up vaping would increase as they socialised during the current summer holidays.

Rachael Maskell (Lab, York Central) said: "Some 30 per cent of children and young people across Yorkshire have already tried vaping and we know, as we move into that summer period, that more and more children will be socialising outside of school time, and those risks will go up, as will the number of adults we see vaping."

Barbara Keeley (Lab, Worsley and Eccles South) said: "He (Mr Gwynne) quoted the figure of 30 per cent for Yorkshire and the Humber. The figure for the north-west is 29 per cent, which shows very little difference. Those figures are twice that for London, so it may be that some Honourable Members are not aware of how bad the problem is getting."

Responding, Neil O'Brien (Cons, Harborough), a Parliamentary Under Secretary for health, said: "In April, I announced new measures to step up our efforts to stop children getting hooked on vaping."

He said this included a new specialised illicit vapes enforcement squad to tackle underage vape sales, while £3 million of new funding was going to trading standards.

Mr O'Brien said: "With the new squad, more companies that fail to comply with the law will be held accountable. I am pleased to announce that the National Trading Standards has begun its operation and is gathering intelligence, training staff and bolstering capacity to begin its fieldwork."

He said he had also launched a call for evidence on youth vaping, to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vape products, and to explore where Government can go further.

Mr Gwynne's motion, which also called on the Government to ban vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children, was passed.