SMOKING is a lifestyle choice which can have fatal consequences and many people have turned to e-cigarettes as an alternative.

The electronic devices, originally developed in 1963 in America, mimic the experience of smoking by heating flavoured oils to deliver a vapour containing nicotine, rather than burning tobacco fumes which contain around 70 cancer-causing chemicals.

People using e-cigarettes, or vaping as it has become known, is now a common sight but what are the facts about this modern alternative to lighting up a ciggie?

Here are ten facts from the Office of National Statistics about e-cigarettes.

1. E-cigarettes first appeared on the UK market in 2007.

2. 6.1 million people in Great Britain are current or former users of e-cigarettes.

3. 3.9 million of those are former e-cigarette users.

4. Which means 2.2 million people currently use e-cigarettes.

5. 59 per cent of current e-cigarette users also use conventional cigarettes.

6. 53 per cent of current e-cigarette users say they main reason for vaping was to quit smoking.

7. 67 per cent of vapers use an e-cigarette at least once a day while 7 per cent of e-cigarette users partake less than once a month.

8. 22 per cent of vapers feel e-cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes.

9. 20 per cent of current or former vapers believe the fumes are harmful to others while 41 per cent of people who have never smoked or used e-cigarettes felt vaping fumes are damaging to others.

10. 73 per cent of people surveyed believe e-cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes.