Schoolgirl fronts campaign asking parents to quit smoking

An eight-year-old girl from London is heading an anti-smoking campaign targeted at parents.

Mollie Elvin, of Hammersmith, makes an emotional appeal for mother Sam to stop smoking in the Department of Health's TV adverts.

Millions will see her plea in an ad on ITV1 before Coronation Street tonight. In it Mollie asks her mother to give up cigarettes as she does not want her to die from lung cancer like her grandmother.

Posters have also gone up across London. They show Mollie saying: "Hello Mum. I know you walk past here. That's why I thought it'd be a good place to say don't smoke. I'm scared that you'll die." The poster includes a phone number and website details for smokers who need help to quit.

Mollie, of Flora Gardens Primary School, is one of nine children selected to front the ground-breaking nationwide campaign.

She said: "I told mum I would give up my Christmas presents if she quits smoking.

"Sometimes I've stolen her cigarettes so she can't find them. I know it's naughty and I'll get into trouble but I don't want her to die."

Ms Elvin, 42, who is still smoking up to 30 cigarettes a day, said: "Seeing Mollie upset because of my smoking is heartbreaking and I'm determined to quit."