86% of people think tobacco marketing is harming children

The poll revealed that 86 per cent of those surveyed also think children should not be exposed to any cigarette advertising.

Cancer Research UK said it released the results as the UK government consults on whether to put all tobacco in packs of uniform size, shape and design, with large health warnings on the front and back.

It found 70 per cent thought the colourful branding and striking logos made cigarettes more appealing to children.

The charity is now urging people to join their campaign, The Answer is Plain, which is calling for all branding to be removed.

Vicky Crichton, public affairs manager for Scotland, said: “This survey shows people across the country clearly support action to get rid of one of the last ways the tobacco industry can market its products. So we’re asking them to sign our petition and help end the ‘packet racket’.

“Many parents know their children are very attached to certain brands and cleverly designed packaging plays a significant role in maintaining that attraction. But when we are talking about tobacco, then it’s time to change the law.

“This is not about ‘the nanny state’. This is about us as a society saying that it is wrong for tobacco – a product that kills half of all its long-term users – to be marketed to children as though it were a bag of sweets.”

The YouGov survey asked 4,099 adults in the UK, 239 in Scotland, how aware of branding children are.

Some 20 per cent of parents and grandparents of children under the age of 18 said they thought it was important to their oldest child or grandchild to have specific branded goods.

Although 61 per cent said they did not ask for any branded goods, around nine out of ten of those that did said this happened before the child was 15.

The charity has also released a short film showing the response from children to tobacco packaging. It said the children’s reactions to the packs included: “It makes you feel like you’re in a wonderland of happiness” and “The pictures actually look quite nice. Ice cubes and mint.”

Mother of two Fiona McCallum, 45, of Knightswood, Glasgow, lost her mother Ruby to lung cancer three months after diagnosis, and she said she wants to protect children from the “allure” of tobacco packaging.

“I know that going through the trauma of seeing my mum die of lung cancer means that my children will never smoke, but so many kids don’t think it can hurt them when they start smoking and are picking a fancy cigarette packet to put in their school bags,” she said.