More than 3 million people in Britain are now vape, the data suggests

More than three million people in Britain are now vapors, new data has revealed.

Action on Smoking and Health found that there are now four times more users of electronic cigarettes than six years ago.

The charity said today that smokers "finally get the message" that steaming can improve health.

Vaping – the term for using e-cigs – is less harmful than conventional smoking, known to directly cause cancer and heart disease.

But gadgets have recently been the subject of much controversy, because of disturbing links between heart and lung lesions and vaping.

Electronic cigarettes contain a liquid form of nicotine that is heated in the vapor to be inhaled, avoiding the damage caused by tobacco smoke.

ASH began by conducting surveys of thousands of adults to estimate the number of vapors in Britain in 2012.

In his first year of collecting answers, he said there were about 700,000 users of e-cigarettes in the countries of origin.

This figure almost doubled in the following year and slowly increased every 12 months. However, it has capped since 2015.

ASH estimates that there are about 3.2 million steamers in Britain in 2018, or about 6% of the total population.

It is also up 10% from the estimated amount for 2017, according to the survey of smoking habits of 12,000 adults.

Most revealed that they turned to vaping because they stopped smoking and that 40% are smokers who are trying to quit.

Public Health England states that vaping is about 95% less harmful than conventional smoking.

The government agency said in February that gadgets should be available on prescription for smokers who want to quit.

And a lengthy report from MEPs last month said the strict rules on e-cigarettes should be relaxed to allow users to empty themselves into public transport.

However, another official body, the Nice Watchdog, has already asked general practitioners not to recommend electronic cigarettes as there is limited evidence of their safety.

And the international scientific community is divided on electronic cigarettes as a nicotine replacement therapy in a set of disturbing studies.

Last month, research from the University of Birmingham suggested that vaping triggers the production of harmful inflammatory chemicals in the airways.

Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive Officer of ASH, said: "UK policy is on the right track with thousands of smokers switching to vaping and improving their health and few signs of non-smoker abuse.

"But even more smokers could benefit if e-cigarettes were allowed as drugs and available on prescription."

Dr. Leonie Brose, of King's College London, added, "The persistent misconception among some smokers that vaping is as bad as smoking is worrying.

"Public Health England's campaigns and others to challenge these views are important and must continue."