Slough has some of the highest smoking levels in the south east, new figures have revealed.

According to analysis by Philip Morris Ltd (PML), the constituency has an average smoking prevalence of 21.3 per cent – 6.9 per cent above the 14.4 per cent average in England.

It joins Folkestone and Hythe and Ashford in the bottom 10 constituencies in the south east in terms of smoking levels.

But despite this, overall the south east has the lowest average smoking prevalence of any region in Britain.

Mark MacGregor, UK corporate affairs director of PML, believes this is the first time most MPs will know the smoking levels in their own constituencies and hopes the results will help decision makers to concentrate on support for smokers.

He said: “These results show the huge variations in smoking levels across the different parts of Britain.

“Although constituencies in the south east generally rank highly, we hope that MPs will use the figures to better target help for smokers locally, particularly in seats with the highest smoking levels.

“If the government is to meet its ambitious target one of the keys to getting smoking prevalence down will be ensuring smokers who don’t quit, understand that alternatives, like e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, are significantly better than continuing to smoke.”

On the other hand, Maidenhead was in the list of top 10 constituencies in the south east with the lowest smoking levels, at 8.3 per cent prevalence.