Despite all the warnings, the message about the dangers of smoking is clearly not getting through.

Few who continue to indulge in this filthy habit can be oblivious of the fact that they are putting their lives at risk, yet they still puff away.

The most breathtaking statistic we publish today, No Smoking Day, is that almost one in eight mothers-to-be in Oxfordshire smoked during pregnancy.

That must be one of the most worrying aspects for health staff.

Quite frankly, the mothers are being utterly selfish, threatening not only their own lives but the health of their babies, too.

Will nothing bring them, and other smokers, to their senses?

We have regular increases in the price of tobacco, constant advertising of the dangers of smoking and wide publicity of ways of giving up, but nothing seems to stir the minds of the weak-willed.

You get the impression that even if they were dragged in front of a patient dying of a smoke-related illness, they still wouldn't budge.

Even the ban on smoking in public places appears to have had little effect.

Pubs and bars are now much more pleasant to drink in, but smokers continue to congregate outside, filling the air with their foul smoke.

We live in hope that at least some will mark No Smoking Day by deciding finally to pack it in. But we won't hold our breath.