NORTH-EAST campaigners are keeping pressure on the Government to reduce the appeal of cigarette packs for World No Tobacco Day this week.

Fresh, with North-East directors of public health, are urging Ministers to back plain, standardised packaging of cigarettes and tobacco to help stop 9,000 North-East children starting to smoke each year.

The theme for World No Tobacco Day, on Friday (May 31) is ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

Despite not being included in the Queen's Speech, the Government has still not ruled out introducing standardised packs, which became law in Australia on December 1.

Latest data from YouGov shows trust in the tobacco industry is at an all-time low, with only six per cent of people in the North-East saying they trust tobacco companies to tell the truth.

Sixty-three per cent of adults surveyed in the North-East also support tobacco being sold in standardised plain packaging, with only 12 per cent opposing.

Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh, said: "Cigarette packs are one of the last remaining forms of promotion and advertising. Why else do tobacco companies make the packs so appealing, aiming them clearly as fashion accessories at young people?

"We're urging Ministers now to commit to removing these enticing brands and protect our children."

Doctors, MPs and council leaders have expressed anger at some of the packs now on shelves, with logos resembling perfume and Lego boxes. Last year every local authority and 129 organisations in the North-East signed up support for standardised packs.

The tobacco industry is opposed to plain packaging, arguing that this will lead to an increase in untaxed illicit tobacco being sold on our streets.