YOUNG people from the region have made an emotional plea to North-East MPs to back new restrictions on tobacco promotion.

The plea is made in the film Hear Our Voice, made by young people from County Durham and Sunderland.

Premiered at Sunderland Empire Cinema last Friday, the film features North-East youngsters talking about getting hooked on cigarettes as early as nine.

Made with funding from the Fresh Smoke-Free North-East campaign group, the film has been sent to the Department of Health to back proposed restrictions such as plain cigarette packets and under-thecounter displays.

Fresh has argued that such measures must form part of the new NHS Reform Bill, which is expected to feature in proposed legislation outlined in this week’s Queen’s Speech.

The film features pupils as young as 13 expressing regret at taking up smoking and how difficult it was to stop.

One 13-year-old said: “It can take one tab to get you addicted.

I was really good at football until I started smoking.”

One 19-year-old said: “I’ve been smoking since I was nine now. It’s been ten years already and I think kids are ending up smoking earlier and earlier nowadays... I wish kids didn’t know what smoking was.”

Durham City MP Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods, who attended the premiere, is backing tougher measures to cut cigarette sales.

She said: “Tobacco kills one in two smokers, but these deaths are avoidable. We need to prevent children starting in the first place and make smoking history for them. I want MPs to hear the voice of our young people loud and clear.”

Five MPs from the region – John Cummings (Easington), David Clelland (Tyne Bridge), Fraser Kemp (Washington), Dave Anderson (Blaydon), and Stephen Hepburn (Jarrow) – have signed an Early Day Motion calling for any new regulatory burden on independent retailers to be “balanced, proportionate and firmly evidence-based”.

In total, 100 MPs signed the motion, which also calls for the Government to fully consult on the proposals and examine the effect on the viability of small shops, the market in illicit tobacco and the impact on competition.