MORE than 10 per cent of the county’s 15-year-olds are smokers, new figures have revealed.

A report detailing the smoking habits of the nation’s 15-year-olds has shown that more girls smoke than boys in Oxfordshire, but numbers for both are above the national average.

One in 10 could be considered ‘current smokers’, meaning they smoke between one and six cigarettes a week.

According to the results, more than a quarter of Oxfordshire children that age had smoked at some point, while nearly 30 per cent of 15-year-old girls had – the national average sits at 24.4 per cent.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre study also investigated young people’s use of e-cigarettes and other products, such as shisha pipes.

Less than one per cent said they regularly smoked shisha pipes or e-cigarettes, with more boys using the alternatives than girls across the county.

When it came to the county’s 15-year-old’s attitudes to smoking, more than half said they felt smoking helped people to relax when nervous.

Joint health overview and scrutiny committee member Susanna Pressel said: “There are a lot of things young people can do to try to give up.

“They can go to their GP for advice and get nicotine patches if they need them.

“Also they would save a lot of money at that age.”

She added: “There are other ways of relaxing as well, if that’s why young people are smoking.”