MORE than 200 house fires in Cheshire have been caused by smoking over the last five years according to new figures.

The figures, released by Cheshire Fire to coincide with today’s No Smoking Day, show that between March 2011 and February 2016 there were a total of 239 smoking-related fire incidents in the county.

The service revealed that 18 per cent of them started in the living room, with 15.9 per cent starting in the bedroom.

Households with a smoker in them are 38 per cent more likely to have a fire, with a third of smoking-related fires occurring between 10pm and 3am.

Residents have been warned never to smoke in bed or under the influence of drugs and alcohol, to ensure cigarettes are fully stubbed out and to test smoke alarm weekly.

Sean Henshaw, Cheshire Fire’s service delivery manager for Warrington, said: “We are urging smokers to put it out by – either kicking the habit altogether or ensuring that they always extinguish their cigarettes properly, especially last thing at night.

“As always we urge people to ensure they have working smoke alarms on every level in their homes – people are at least four times more likely to die in an accidental fire in the home without a working a smoke alarm.”