In July 2007, the smoking ban came into force in the UK. Lighting up in pubs, restaurants and indoor public spaces was no longer allowed, prompting many to stub it out for good, or at least consider quitting.

But those who continue smoking must be thinking there is no place sacred for a smoke, following the Royal College of Physicians’ report this week calling for a ban on smoking in cars.

The report, Passive Smoking And Children, launched by the Royal College’s Tobacco Advisory Group, claims children are particularly vulnerable to passive smoke exposure, and have called for the ban to protect the health of young people.

Around two million children currently live in a household where they are exposed to cigarette smoke, and many more are exposed to smoke outside the home.

Using evidence-based studies and additional analysis funded by Cancer Research UK and carried out by the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies, the report contains alarming new estimates of health damage attributable to passive smoking.

Each year, more than 20,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infection in children are caused by passive smoking. It also causes 120,000 cases of middle ear disease, at least 22,000 new cases of asthma, 200 cases of bacterial meningitis, and 40 sudden infant deaths – one in five of all such deaths.

Such cases generate 300,000 UK GP consultations, around 9,500 hospital admissions and cost the NHS about £23.2m.

Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which is supporting the report, says: “We should be making cars totally smoke-free if there are children travelling in them. Second-hand smoke has been found to be strongly linked to chest infections in children, asthma, ear problems and sudden infant death syndrome, or cot death.”

Professor John Britton, chairmnan of the Royal College of Physicians’ Tobacco Advisory Group, says: “This report isn’t just about protecting children from passive smoking, it’s about taking smoking completely out of children’s lives.”

Anyone who has given up smoking will know how hard it is to break the habit.

Gail Stringer, health promotion specialist at Bradford’s Stop Smoking Service, speaks from experience. The mother-of-three smoked for 15 years. She gave up ten years ago... because she wanted to see her grandchildren.

She also felt she wasn’t a good role model for her children. She would welcome a ban on smoking in cars as she believes smoking should be ‘de-normalised’ so youngsters don’t see it as something they should do.

“A young person is twice more likely to smoke if their parents smoke, and you also have the impact of second-hand smoke on a child’s health,” says Gail.

Since 2005, more than 15,000 smokers in Bradford have been helped to quit by the Stop Smoking Service and Primary Care initiatives.

Last year, 4,500 quit through the service, and staff are already supporting 2,500 to quit this year. Gail says: “We know eight out of ten people want to be able to stop smoking, so anything we can do in terms of changes to legislation to encourage and support them to do that is better.

“It’s not about banning smoking because people have free choice, but we have to protect other people and also provide the support for people who are trying to stop as well.”

However, for some people, quitting isn’t an option. One woman I spoke to has been smoking for 48 years and has no intention of stopping. She says she doesn’t drink and it is her only pleasure. “I’ve no intention of giving up and I haven’t even tried,” she says.

While she’s against smoking if children are in the car, she says smokers should be able to light up when they are on their own. “You’ve bought your car and paid for it, you pay your road tax and insurance, it’s your car and it’s your personal space,” she says.

For more information, call the Stop Smoking Service on (01274) 202793, or text QUIT to 88020.