A new health campaign in Borehamwood and Potters Bar aims to get smokers to "wise-up to roll-ups".

Following a significant increase in the use of roll-ups, the authority aims to rubbish some of the myths surrounding hand-rolled tobacco.

In 1990, 18 per cent of male smokers and two per cent of female smokers said they smoked mainly hand rolled cigarettes but by 2013 this figure had risen to 40 per cent for men and 23 per cent for women.

Figures published recently show that half of smokers wrongly believe they are less harmful than manufactured cigarettes.

In fact, they are at least as hazardous, containing 4,000 toxins, including arsenic and cyanide, and can still cause impotence, cancer and lead to premature death.

The belief that they are somehow more natural and organic than traditional cigarettes is also untrue; the tobacco in a pouch is exactly the same as in a normal cigarette.