BIRMINGHAM school children travelled to Downing Street to try to stub out smoking in cars.

Five pupils from Swanshurst School in Selly Oak joined children from across the country in a bid to stop children suffering the effects of passive smoking in cars.

Research published by the British Lung Foundation revealed nearly half of eight to 15-year-olds in the West Midlands had been exposed to cigarette smoke in a car, which can cause a range of respiratory illnesses including bronchitis and pneumonia.

A group of 25 children presented a 15,000-strong petition calling for smoking in cars to be banned.

Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe, who backed the campaign, said: “Smoking just one cigarette in the car, even with the window open, creates a greater concentration of second-hand smoke than a whole evening’s smoking in a pub.”