THE findings of a recent health report into the dangers of e-smoking has been welcomed by Stroud business - EZ Vape.

Vaping is safer than smoking and could lead to the demise of the traditional cigarette, Public Health England (PHE) has said in the first official recognition that e-cigarettes are less damaging to health than smoking tobacco.

The health body concluded that, on “the best estimate so far”, e-cigarettes are about 95 per cent less harmful than tobacco cigarettes and could one day be dispensed as a licensed medicine in an alternative to anti-smoking products such as patches.

While stressing that e-cigarettes are not free from risk, PHE now believes that e-cigarettes “have the potential to make a significant contribution to the endgame for tobacco”.

Professor Kevin Fenton, director of health and wellbeing at PHE said: "Smoking remains England’s number one killer and the best thing a smoker can do is to quit completely, now and forever.

"E-cigarettes are not completely risk free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm.

"The problem is people increasingly think they are at least as harmful and this may be keeping millions of smokers from quitting.

"Local stop smoking services should look to support e-cigarette users in their journey to quitting completely."

The message was backed by the government’s chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies.

EZ Vape owner Samantha Terry who welcomed the findings said: “We have been saying since the very start that vaping is a safer alternative to smoking and this proves that.

"Vaping is a good way for smokers to give up their habit.”

The 111-page review raises concerns about the length and cost of the government’s licensing process, which is a key part of the revised strategy to cut tobacco use.

No e-cigarettes have yet been licensed, unlike other nicotine-replacement therapies such as gums, lozenges and patches.

The review found that almost all of the 2.6 million adults in the UK now thought to be using e-cigarettes are current or former conventional smokers, most using them to help them quit tobacco or to prevent them going back to smoking.

There was no suggestion that the products were a gateway into tobacco smoking, with less than one per cent of adults or young people who had never smoked becoming regular cigarette users.

EZ Vape, originally from Canada, has premises on Stroud’s Russell Street. E-Z Vape currently has eight stores around the globe and their products are available in over 6,500 other outlets.

“Unlike conventional cigarettes e cigarettes do not contain tobacco, tar and arsenic and the public need to be made aware of that, hopefully this report will go some way into proving that,” Samantha added.