SMOKING was blamed today for close on a third of deaths in York and North Yorkshire, and almost as many in East Yorkshire.

The grim statistic emerged in a shocking new Government-commissioned study into the human cost of smoking.

The Health Development Agency (HDA) report said that 30 per cent of people aged over 35 in the York and Selby Primary Care Trust area died from smoking-related illnesses.

Smoking was blamed for 36 per cent of male deaths, while the figure for women was 23 per cent

The Government's Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, said the figures revealed that smoking was not just a national problem, but showed clearly how local communities were being affected. "We are in the grip of a smoking epidemic," he said.

The proportion of smoking deaths is lower - but still high - in wealthier areas, causing 28 per cent of deaths in Hambleton and Richmondshire, 27 per cent in Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale, 27 per cent in Craven, Harrogate and Rural District and 29 per cent in East Yorkshire.

The study also revealed that 25 per cent of people in York and Selby still smoke - putting themselves at risk of potentially-fatal illnesses including cancers, heart failure and respiratory diseases.

This compared with 26 per cent in Hambleton and Richmond-shire, 27 per cent in Scarbor-ough, Whitby and Ryedale and 24 per cent in Craven, Harrogate and Rural District and 23 per cent in East Yorkshire.

The study looked at deaths of adults aged 35 or over between 1998 and 2002.

HDA chairman Dame Yve Buckland described the statistics as "concerning" and said smoking and death rates were closely linked to wealth.

She said: "Smoking is an important cause of health inequality. The poorer you are, the more likely you are to smoke, you're less likely to quit and you're more likely to die from smoking-related causes."

Nationwide, more than nine in ten male deaths from lung cancer, and eight in ten female deaths, are the result of smoking, the report said.

But the number of smoking-related deaths has fallen from 120,000 in 1995 to 106,000 in 2002 and is expected to decline further.

The study came ahead of the publication of a long-awaited Government white paper which is expected to include proposals to curb smoking in public, including pubs, offices and restaurants.

Health Secretary John Reid is unlikely to impose an outright ban, but is expected to instead allow pubs and restaurants to apply to their local authority for a smoking licence.

Those licences will only be issued under strict conditions to places with good ventilation and offering protection to children and staff, it is thought.

Dr Reid, a former 60-a-day smoker himself, angered anti-smoking groups earlier this year by claiming the habit was one of the few pleasures available to some working class people.

He believes most deaths from passive smoking are caused by secondary smoke in the home, not in pubs and restaurants, which lessens the case for a total ban in public places.

Updated: 10:06 Friday, November 12, 2004