Bedford mayor backs campaign for town to be smoke free by 2030

As part of National No Smoking Day, Dave Hodgson has announced Bedford Borough Council's decision to endorse the Roadmap to a Smokefree 2030.

Set out by a Government Green Paper, the aim is for less than 5 per cent of the population of England to be smokers by 2030.

Mayor Dave said “Every day in England 280 children start smoking and more than 200 people die from smoking. Since the Government first announced its ambition for England to be smokefree by 2030, over 50,000 children under 16 have started smoking in England – enough to fill a football stadium.”

The council joins ASH, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, the Royal College of Physicians, the British Medical Association, the British Lung Foundation, the Royal Society for Public Health and many others to call on the Government to adopt the Roadmap to a Smokefree 2030.